Positron kinetics in an idealized PET environment

Robson, R.E., Brunger, M.J., Buckman, S.J., Garcia, G., Petrović, Z Lj., and White, R.D. (2015) Positron kinetics in an idealized PET environment. Scientific Reports, 5. 12674. pp. 1-10.

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Abstract

The kinetic theory of non-relativistic positrons in an idealized positron emission tomography PET environment is developed by solving the Boltzmann equation, allowing for coherent and incoherent elastic, inelastic, ionizing and annihilating collisions through positronium formation. An analytic expression is obtained for the positronium formation rate, as a function of distance from a spherical source, in terms of the solutions of the general kinetic eigenvalue problem. Numerical estimates of the positron range - a fundamental limitation on the accuracy of PET, are given for positrons in a model of liquid water, a surrogate for human tissue. Comparisons are made with the 'gas-phase' assumption used in current models in which coherent scattering is suppressed. Our results show that this assumption leads to an error of the order of a factor of approximately 2, emphasizing the need to accurately account for the structure of the medium in PET simulations.

Item ID: 42971
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2045-2322
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Funders: Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence Discovery Program (ARC-CEDP), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AVHF), Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (SMEC)
Projects and Grants: MPNTRS Project ON171037, MPNTRS Project III410011, SMEC project FIS2012-31230
Date Deposited: 04 Mar 2016 00:24
FoR Codes: 02 PHYSICAL SCIENCES > 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics > 020201 Atomic and Molecular Physics @ 100%
SEO Codes: 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970102 Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences @ 100%
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