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In vivo imaging of small laboratory animals is a valuable tool in the development of new drugs. For this purpose, miniPET, an easy to scale modular small animal PET camera has been developed at our institutes. The system has four modules, which makes it possible to rotate the whole detector system around the axis of the field of view. Data collection and image reconstruction are performed using a data acquisition (DAQ) module with Ethernet communication facility and a computer cluster of commercial PCs. Performance tests were carried out to deter-mine system parameters, such as energy resolution, sensitivity and noise equivalent count rate. A modified GEANT4-based GATE Monte Carlo software package was used to simulate PET data analogous to those of the performance measurements. GATE was run on a Linux cluster of 10 processors (64 bit, Xeon with 3.0 GHz) and controlled by a SUN grid engine. The application of this special computer cluster reduced the time necessary for the simulations by an order of magnitude. The simulated energy spectra, maximum rate of true coincidences and sensitivity of the camera were in good agreement with the measured parameters., QC 20100525

We report on the design of a small animal PET scanner being developed at our institutes. The existing setup is the first version of the miniPET machine consisting of four detector modules. Each detector module consists of an 8 x 8 LSO scintillator crystal block, a position sensitive photomultiplier, a digitizer including a digital signal processing board and an Ethernet interface board. There is no hardware coincidence detection implemented in the system and coincidence is determined based on a time stamp attached to every event by a digital CFD algorithm. The algorithm is implemented in the digital signal processing board and generates a time stamp with a coincidence resolution of less than 2 us. The data acquisition system is based on Ethernet network and is highly scalable in size and performance., QC 20100525

A gamma camera has been updated and converted to serve as a demonstrator for educational purposes. The gantry and the camera head were the only part of the system that remained untouched. The main reason for this modernization was to increase the transparency of the gamma camera by partitioning the different logical building blocks of the system and thus providing access for inspection and improvements throughout the chain. New data acquisition and reconstruction software has been installed. By taking these measures, the camera is now used in education and also serves as a platform for tests of new hardware and software solutions. The camera is also used to demonstrate 3D (SPECT) imaging by collecting 2D projections from a rotatable cylindrical phantom. Since the camera head is not attached mechanically to the phantom, the effect of misalignment between the head and the rotation axis of the phantom can be studied. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., QC 20100721. Conference: 7th International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors. Grenoble, FRANCE. JUL 04-07, 2005

A new type of experimental technique to investigate the depth- of-interaction (DOI) dependence in small scintillator elements designed for high-resolution animal PET is tested. An Oxford-type nuclear microprobe was used to irradiate a lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) crystal (2 x 2 x 10 mm) with a highly focused, (few micrometers diam.), 2 MeV He+ beam. Pulse height spectra from a PMT attached to one end of the LSO crystal were collected in list mode. By scanning the beam over the crystal high-resolution 2D-images are generated and thus the DOI effect in the scintillator could be investigated. The obtained results of the overall DOI dependence confirm previous findings using gamma-rays. Since the present experimental setup allows obtaining data with several orders of magnitude better spatial resolution than with collimated gamma-beam, the method can be applied for variety of problems where high spatial resolution is required., QC 20100525 QC 20111011

A 16 mm(2) CMOS Image Sensor with more than 100 000 pixels and with a standard video output was irradiated with 48, 95 and 180 MeV protons. Proton-induced nuclear reactions in silicon were detected as bright spots or tracks in the images. The angular and energy-dependent response of the detector were studied. The application to proton dosimetry is discussed., QC 20100525 QC 20111020

A commercial CMOS image sensor was irradiated with heavy ion beams in the several MeV energy range. The image sensor is equipped with a standard video output. The data were collected on-line through frame grabbing and analysed off-line after digitisation. It was shown that the response of the image sensor to the heavy ion bombardment varied with the type and energy of the projectiles. The sensor will be used for the CMS Barrel Muon Alignment system., QC 20100525 QC 20111018. International Conference on Imaging Techniques in Subatomic Physics, Astrophysics, Medicine, Biology and Industry. Stockholm, SWEDEN. JUN 24-27, 2003

A commercially available off the shelf CMOS Image Sensor was irradiated with neutron and proton beams. The Image Sensor is equipped with standard video output. The data were collected on VHS videotapes and analyzed off-line after digitization. The camera chip with 110 000 pixels each having 12 x 12 mum(2) size, shows the nuclear reactions occurring in the sensitive layer as bright spots or tracks. Several applications are suggested based on the inexpensive CMOS Image Sensor., QC 20100525

Recent progress in the development of high-resolution electron spectrometers in combination with highly monochromatized undulator radiation has allowed observation of the vibrationally resolved gas-phase C Is photoelectron spectra of methane and ethane. F, Addresses: Osborne SJ, UNIV UPPSALA, DEPT PHYS, BOX 530, S-75121 UPPSALA, SWEDEN. UNIV BERGEN, DEPT CHEM, N-5007 BERGEN, NORWAY. LUND UNIV, INST PHYS, DEPT SYNCHROTRON RADIAT RES, S-22363 LUND, SWEDEN. HUNGARIAN ACAD SCI, INST NUCL RES, H-4001 DEBRECEN, H