Facilities and Resources
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Equipment
FastSPECT I (Fast Stationary SPECT)
Dynamic SPECT system for mice and rats. Uses 24 modular scintillation cameras, each with one pinhole. No motion of aperture or detector, so true 4D imaging is possible.
FastSPECT II
Upgraded version of FastSPECT. Better resolution (1-2 mm for normal configuration), improved electronics, list-mode data acquisition, flexible aperture assembly. FastSPECT II: System Characterization and Small-Animal Imaging
NanoSPECT
FastSPECT II as configured with 100 µm D pinholes, 18X magnification, 1 nanoliter voxels over 5 mm field of view.
FaCT (FastSPECT + CT)
FastSPECT II augmented with cone-beam, helical scan computed tomography system.
BazookaSPECT
Photon-counting detector with a fast-readout CCD camera and an image intensifier. Online maximum-likelihood estimation of scintillation position and energy. Detector resolution about 60 µm. Used with pinholes or coded apertures for small-animal SPECT.
FastSPECT III
Next-generation stationary SPECT system, being designed for mouse brain imaging. Uses multiple BazookaSPECT detectors. Completion expected early 2009.
SemiSPECT
The FastSPECT concept implemented with cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector arrays. Submillimeter resolution for mouse imaging.
Dual-modality CT/SPECT
A single CZT detector array with a microbore collimator for SPECT, simultaneous cone-beam CT.
M3R (multimodule, multiresolution) SPECT system.
Test bed for the study of image quality. Four modular scintillation cameras with easily interchangeable pinhole plates and variable magnification. Used for optimizing task performance for a specified class of objects.
Adaptive SPECT prototype
Variation of the M3R concept which allows adaptation of the imaging configuration in response to initial data obtained on a specific subject. Goal is to achieve optimum task performance for that subject rather than a prespecified class of subjects.
SiliSPECT
Experimental system for ultrahigh-resolution of small animals at low gamma-ray energy. Uses 4 crossed-strip silicon detector arrays with 50 µm strips–a 4 megapixel gamma camera.
ModPET
Experimental small-animal PET system using monolithic sodium iodide crystals. Work in progress.
Direct electron imager
An in vivo autoradiography system for high-resolution imaging of beta particles, positrons, or conversion electrons from radionuclides.
Other equipment
Equipment for conduct of animal studies
- Microtone-Cryostat, 2488 Minotome, IEC Digital Model 1235 Water Baths, Sheldon LWS-815 Centrifuge, LW Scientific
- 20/20 Series Gamma Counter, Iso-Data
- CRC-4 Radioisotope Calibrator, Capintec
- Explorer Balance, Ohaus
- Inspira Advanced Safety Ventilator, Harvard Apparatus
- Small Animal Anesthesia Machine, JD Medical Distributing Co. 420 pH Meter, Orion.
- Langendorff Constant Flow Perfusion System, Radnotil
Equipment for testing gamma-ray detectors
- Rucker and Kolls 66oJ wafer prober
- Gamma-ray mapper using Tennelec preamplifiers and amplifiers, a Canberra AccuSPEC PC-MCA and a 2-D translation stage (runs in LABVIEW)
- Spot imager housing, collimators, and a full electronics suite for running hybrid semiconductor detector arrays
- 3 NIM bins and various NIM units
- Keithley 614 and 602 electrometers
- Tektronix 455 oscilloscope and TD 5420 digital oscilloscope
- Hewlett-Packard 8012 pulse generator
- Simpson 420 funcsion generator and power supplies
- Bausch and Lomb stereoscopic microscope
- Small cyrogenic Dewar setup controlled by Lakeshore Model 330
- Small isolated chamber and 239Pu alpha source4
- Wafter Mapping and Characterization
- Infrared detector wafer mapping system (runs in LABVIEW)
- Video-microscopy system
- Fume hood and chemical equipment for electroless deposition of detector electrodes
- Kulicke & Soffa wire bonder
- Evaporative metalization system
- Lapmaster grinder/polisher
- Fisher vacuum oven
Computational resources
Electronics shop
Machine shop