Paul Nedrow

High-energy proton imaging for biomedical applications

The charged particle community is looking for techniques exploiting proton interactions instead of X-ray absorption for creating images of human tissue. Due to multiple Coulomb scattering inside the measured object it has shown to be highly non-trivial to achieve sufficient spatial resolution. We present imaging of biological tissue with a proton microscope. This device relies on magnetic optics, distinguishing it from most published proton imaging methods. For these methods reducing the data acquisition time to a clinically acceptable level has turned out to be challenging. In a proton microscope, data acquisition and processing are much simpler. This device even allows imaging in real time. The primary medical application will be image guidance in proton radiosurgery. Proton images demonstrating the potential for this application are presented. Tomographic reconstructions are included to raise awareness of the possibility of high-resolution proton tomography using magneto-optics.

Imaging detector systems for soft x-ray and proton radiography

Multi-pulse imaging systems have been developed for recording images from pulsed X-ray and proton radiographic sources. The number of successive images for x-ray radiography is limited to four being generated by 25 ns, pulsed sources in a close positioned geometry. The number of proton images are provided by the number of proton bursts (approximately 60 ns) delivered to the radiographic system. In both cases the radiation to light converter is a thin LSO crystal. The radiographic image formed is relayed by a direct, coherent bundle or lens coupling to a variety of electronic shuttered, cooled CCD cameras. The X-ray system is optimized for detecting bremmstrahlung, reflection geometry generated X-rays with end point energies below 300 keV. This has resulted in less than 200 μm thick LSO converters which are 25 x 25 mm2. The converter is attached to a UV transmitting fiberoptic which in turn is directly coupled to a coherent bundle. The image is relayed to a 25 mm microchannel plate image intensifier attached to a 4 image framing camera. The framing camera image is recorded by a 1600 x 1600 pixel, cooled CCD camera. The current proton radiography imaging system for dynamic experiments is based on a system of seven individual high-resolution CCD cameras, each with its own optical relay and fast shuttering. The image of the radiographed object is formed on a 1.7 mm thick tiles of LSO scintillator. The rapid shuttering for each of the CCDs is accomplished via proximity-focussed planar diodes (PPD), which require application of 300-to-500 ns long, 12 kV pulses to the PPD from a dedicated HV pulser. The diodes are fiber-optically coupled to the front face of the CCD chips. For each time-frame a separate CCD assembly is required. The detection quantum efficiency (DQE) of the system is about 0.4. This is due to the lens coupling inefficiency, the necessary demagnification (typically between 5:1 and 3:1) in the system optics, and the planar-diode photo-cathode quantum efficiency (QE) (of approximately 15%). More recently, we have incorporated a series of 4 or 9 image framing cameras to provide an increased number of images. These have been coupled to cooled CCD cameras as readouts. A detailed description of the x-ray and proton radiographic imaging systems are discussed as well as observed limitations in performance. A number of improvements are also being developed which will be described.

Time‐resolved doubly bent crystal x‐ray spectrometer

X‐ray spectroscopy is an essential tool in high‐temperature plasma research. We describe a time‐resolved x‐ray spectrometer suitable for measuring spectra in harsh environments common to many very high‐energy density laboratory plasma sources. The spectrometer consisted of a doubly curved Si(111) crystal diffraction element, a WL‐1201 (ZnO:Ga) phosphor, a coherent fiber‐optic array, and two visible streak cameras. The spectrometer design described here has a minimum time resolution of 1.3 ns with 2.8‐eV spectral resolution over a 200‐eV‐wide bandpass in the 6–7‐keV region of the spectrum. Complete system spectral throughput calibrations were done at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron (CHESS). Details of the design and calibration results are presented.

Ultra-fast high-resolution hybrid and monolithic CMOS imagers in multi-frame radiography

A new burst-mode, 10-frame, hybrid Si-sensor/CMOS-ROIC FPA chip has been recently fabricated at Teledyne Imaging Sensors. The intended primary use of the sensor is in the multi-frame 800 MeV proton radiography at LANL. The basic part of the hybrid is a large (48×49 mm2) stitched CMOS chip of 1100×1100 pixel count, with a minimum shutter speed of 50 ns. The performance parameters of this chip are compared to the first generation 3-frame 0.5-Mpixel custom hybrid imager. The 3-frame cameras have been in continuous use for many years, in a variety of static and dynamic experiments at LANSCE. The cameras can operate with a per-frame adjustable integration time of ~ 120ns-to- 1s, and inter-frame time of 250ns to 2s. Given the 80 ms total readout time, the original and the new imagers can be externally synchronized to 0.1-to-5 Hz, 50-ns wide proton beam pulses, and record up to ~1000-frame radiographic movies typ. of 3-to-30 minute duration. The performance of the global electronic shutter is discussed and compared to that of a high-resolution commercial front-illuminated monolithic CMOS imager.

Inverse-collimated proton radiography for imaging thin materials

Relativistic, magnetically focused proton radiography was invented at Los Alamos National Laboratory using the 800 MeV LANSCE beam and is inherently well-suited to imaging dense objects, at areal densities >20 g cm-2. However, if the unscattered portion of the transmitted beam is removed at the Fourier plane through inverse-collimation, this system becomes highly sensitive to very thin media, of areal densities <100 mg cm-2. Here, this inverse-collimation scheme is described in detail and demonstrated by imaging Xe gas with a shockwave generated by an aluminum plate compressing the gas at Mach 8.8. With a 5-mrad inverse collimator, an areal density change of just 49 mg cm-2 across the shock front is discernible with a contrast-to-noise ratio of 3. Geant4 modeling of idealized and realistic proton transports can guide the design of inverse-collimators optimized for specific experimental conditions and show that this technique performs better for thin targets with reduced incident proton beam emittance. This work increases the range of areal densities to which the system is sensitive to span from ∼25 mg cm-2 to 100 g cm-2, exceeding three orders of magnitude. This enables the simultaneous imaging of a dense system as well as thin jets and ejecta material that are otherwise difficult to characterize with high-energy proton radiography.

Proton radiography: its uses and resolution scaling

A new technique in charged particle radiography was invented in 1995 at Los Alamos National Laboratory utilizing the 800MeV proton beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).At present proton radiography (pRad) has proven to be useful in the study of explosives driven dynamic phenomena, and quasi-static systems such as metal eutectics. For static objects, tomographic imaging has been demonstrated with possible use to study failure mechanism in materials such as nuclear fuel pellets. The basic principles of pRad will be presented along with selected representative results.

Imaging Techniques Utilizing Optical Fibers And Tomography

Two-dimensional, time-dependent images generated by neutrons, gamma rays, and x-rays incident on fast scintillators are relayed to streak and video cameras over optical fibers. Three dimensions, two spatial and one temporal, have been reduced to two, one in space and time utilizing sampling methods permitting reconstruction of a time-dependent, two-dimensional image subsequent to data recording. The manner in which the sampling is done optimized the ability to reconstruct the image via a maximization of entropy algorithm. This method uses four linear fiber optic arryas typically 30 meters long and up to 35 elements each. A further refinement of this technique collapses the linear array information into four single fibers by wavelength multiplexing. This permits economical transmission of the data over kilometer distances to the recording equipment.

800-MeV magnetic-focused flash proton radiography for high-contrast imaging of low-density biologically-relevant targets using an inverse-scatter collimator

Proton radiography shows great promise as a tool to guide proton beam therapy (PBT) in real time. Here, we demonstrate two ways in which the technology may progress towards that goal. Firstly, with a proton beam that is 800 MeV in energy, target tissue receives a dose of radiation with very tight lateral constraint. This could present a benefit over the traditional treatment energies of ~200 MeV, where up to 1 cm of lateral tissue receives scattered radiation at the target. At 800 MeV, the beam travels completely through the object with minimal deflection, thus constraining lateral dose to a smaller area. The second novelty of this system is the utilization of magnetic quadrupole refocusing lenses that mitigate the blur caused by multiple Coulomb scattering within an object, enabling high resolution imaging of thick objects, such as the human body. This system is demonstrated on ex vivo salamander and zebrafish specimens, as well as on a realistic hand phantom. The resulting images provide contrast sufficient to visualize thin tissue, as well as fine detail within the target volumes, and the ability to measure small changes in density. Such a system, combined with PBT, would enable the delivery of a highly specific dose of radiation that is monitored and guided in real time.

Large-format imaging system

Bechtel Nevada, in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, has designed a radiographic imaging system that takes advantage of large format electron optical elements to produce a highly sensitive system for large diameter radiographic fluxes. Using specially designed fast lenses, the system is able to observe scintillator screens as large as 300 mm in diameter.A gated microchannel plate intensifier allows the system to be synchronized to pulsed gamma, proton and neutron sources of radiation to help reduce background noise levels. The entire system is deployed in a transportable housing with sealed heat exchanger and electrical patch panel that is designed to be lighttight so that the electron optics can be operated at extremely high gain. External controls allow manipulation of system gain, gate width and focus. The resolution is about 1 to 2 line pairs per millimeter at the radiation-to-light converter, and the f-number of the optical system is f/1. The image is digitized from a fiber-optically coupled 1024 X 1024 cooled charge-coupled device array. The system will have interchangeable components so that system performance can be optimized to meet specific recording requirements. The major trade-off is between field of view and resolution.