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We present the current status of our project of developing a photon counting detector for medical imaging. An example motivation lays in producing a monitoring and dosimetry device for boron neutron capture therapy, currently not commercially available. Our approach combines in-house developed detectors based on cadmium telluride or thick silicon with readout chip technology developed for particle physics experiments at CERN. Here we describe the manufacturing process of our sensors as well as the processing steps for the assembly of first prototypes. The prototypes use currently the PSI46digV2.1-r readout chip. The accompanying readout electronics chain that was used for first measurements will also be discussed. Finally we present an advanced algorithm developed by us for image reconstruction using such photon counting detectors with focus on boron neutron capture therapy. This work is conducted within a consortium of Finnish research groups from Helsinki Institute of Physics, Aalto University, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT and Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) under the RADDESS program of Academy of Finland. Keywords: Solid state detectors, X-ray detectors, Gamma detectors, Neutron detectors, Instrumentation for hadron therapy, Medical-image reconstruction methods and algorithms.

A Monte Carlo code, known as AASI, is developed for simulating energy spectra in alpha spectrometry. The code documented here is a comprehensive package where all the major processes affecting the spectrum are included. A unique feature of the code is its ability to take into account coincidences between the particles emitted from the source. Simulations and measurements highlight the importance of coincidences in high-resolution alpha spectrometry. To show the validity of the simulated results, comparisons with measurements and other simulation codes are presented., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A

The renormalization of the weak charge-changing hadronic current as a function of the reaction energy release is studied at the nucleonic level. We have calculated the average quenching factors for each type of current (vector, axial vector and induced pseudoscalar). The obtained quenching in the axial vector part is, at zero momentum transfer, 19% for the sd shell and 23% in the fp shell. We have extended the calculations also to heavier systems such as $^{56}$Ni and $^{100}$Sn, where we obtain stronger quenchings, 44% and 59%, respectively. Gamow--Teller type transitions are discussed, along with the higher order matrix elements. The quenching factors are constant up to roughly 60 MeV momentum transfer. Therefore the use of energy-independent quenching factors in beta decay is justified. We also found that going beyond the zeroth and first order operators (in inverse nucleon mass) does not give any substantial contribution. The extracted renormalization to the ratio $C_P/C_A$ at q=100 MeV is -3.5%, -7.1$%, -28.6%, and +8.7% for mass 16, 40, 56, and 100, respectively., Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures

It has been proposed that the discrepancy between the partially-conserved axial-current prediction and the nuclear shell-model calculations of the ratio $C_P/C_A$ in the muon-capture reactions can be solved in the case of ^{28}Si by introducing effective transition operators. Recently there has been experimental interest in measuring the needed angular correlations also in ^{20}Ne. Inspired by this, we have performed a shell-model analysis employing effective transition operators in the shell-model formalism for the transition $^{20}Ne(0^+_{g.s.})+\mu^- \to ^{20}F(1^+; 1.057 MeV) + \nu_\mu$. Comparison of the calculated capture rates with existing data supports the use of effective transition operators. Based on our calculations, as soon as the experimental anisotropy data becomes available, the limits for the ratio $C_P/ C_A$ can be extracted., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures included

Recently many authors have performed shell-model calculations of nuclear matrix elements determining the rates of the ordinary muon capture in light nuclei. These calculations have employed well-tested effective interactions in large scale shell-model studies. For one of the nuclei of interest, namely $^{28}$Si, there exists recent experimental data which can be used to deduce the value of the ratio $C_{P}/C_{A}$ by using the calculated matrix elements. Surprisingly enough, all the abovementioned shell-model results suggest a very small value ($\simeq 0$) for $C_{P}/C_{A}$, quite far from the PCAC prediction and recent data on muon capture in hydrogen. We show that this rather disturbing anomaly is solved by employing effective transition operators. This finding is also very important in studies of the scalar coupling of the weak charged current of leptons and hadrons., Comment: Revtex, 6 pages, 2 figs included