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A multipixel photon counter (MPPC) features excellent photon-counting capability as a radiation detector. In particular, a two-plane Compton camera consisting of Ce:GAGG scintillators coupled with MPPC arrays has significant application potential owing to its compact size and low weight. For example, the camera can be easily mounted on a commercial drone to identify radiation hot spots from the sky. In Fukushima, we demonstrated that a 137 Cs distribution within a 100 m diameter can be mapped correctly within a couple of tens of minutes. The advanced use of the Compton camera is also anticipated in the field of proton therapy. We evaluated an image of 511 keV annihilation gamma-rays emitted from a PMMA phantom irradiated by 200 MeV protons to mimic an in-beam monitor for proton therapy. Finally, we developed an ultracompact Compton camera (weight = 580 g), for 3-D multicolor molecular imaging. In order to demonstrate the performance capabilities of the device, 131 I (365 keV) , 85 SrCl 2 (514 keV), and 65 ZnCl 2 (1116 keV) were injected into a living mouse and the data were taken from 12 angles with a total acquisition time of 2 h. We confirmed that all tracers had accumulated on the target organs of the thyroid, bone, and liver, and that the obtained 3-D image was quantitatively correct with an accuracy of ± 20%.

Proton therapy causes less damage to healthy tissue compared to other radiation therapies ; however, the possible damage caused by secondary, fast neutrons is almost unknown. In some simulations, neutron dose amounts to 10% of the proton dose; therefore, a real-time visualization of the neutron dose is needed. We have developed a neutron camera that can visualize the direction and intensity of fast neutron sources . The camera consists of eight units of a plastic scintillator (EJ-299-34) coupled with a compact PMT (R9880U). We demonstrate that a 252Cf neutron source is correctly imaged with an angular resolution of 15.5 deg (FWHM). In addition, fast neutrons emitted from the brass block irradiated by 70 MeV were successfully monitored in real time. Finally, we present our prospects for future clinical applications.

Proton therapy is a widely used and effective treatment for cancer. A high-dose concentration of proton beam reduces damage to normal tissues. However, it also requires a high accuracy of irradiation. PET is generally used to verify the proton range after irradiation, but, the distributions of positrons and the energy deposited by protons are not similar to each other. Recently, prompt gamma-ray imaging has attracted attention as a new, online imaging technique. In particular, 4.4 MeV gamma rays emitted from 12 C* is one of the best probes to monitor the proton dose, however imaging techniques are far from established. We have developed a novel, 3-D position sensitive Compton camera based on Ce:GAGG scintillators coupled with multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) arrays, thus making it optimized for imaging in the 1–10 MeV range. The angular resolution is 5 degrees (FWHM) at 4.4 MeV. We have established various methods to discriminate multiple-Compton and escape events, both of which can be critical backgrounds for precise imaging of prompt gamma rays. By irradiating a 70 MeV proton beam on the PMMA phantom, we demonstrated that 4.4 MeV gamma ray image is sharply concentrated on the Bragg peak, as was expected from the PHITS simulation.

In medical imaging, precise and reliable images are very important. However, the quality of medical images is sometimes limited by low-event statistics owing to the low sensitivity of the detectors commonly used in radiology. On the other hand, long exposure to radiation and long inspection duration can become a burden for patients. In this paper, we propose a method for generating high-quality images of gamma ray sources from low statistic data by using machine learning methods based on dictionary learning and sparse coding. As the first application, we generated a high-quality image of 137Cs, which emits 662-keV gamma rays, from low-event statistics measured using a Compton camera. We simulated with Geant4 various geometries of the gamma-ray source (137Cs; 662 keV) as measured with a Compton camera by Geant4. Then, complete sets of low-resolution and high-resolution dictionaries were prepared. We generated super-resolution images from low-resolution test images obtained from actual measurements. The convergence of the gamma-ray images was similar for both the ground truth and predicted images, as supported by the improvements in the structural similarity (SSIM), peak signal-to-noise (PSNR) ratio, and root mean square error (RMSE) in the corresponding images. We also discuss future plans to use the super-resolution technique for visualizing radium chloride (223RaCl2) in the patient’s body, which will make it possible to achieve in-vivo imaging of alpha-particle internal therapy for the first time.

Radionuclide therapy (RNT) is an internal radiation therapy that can selectively damage cancer cells. Recently, the use of alpha-emitting radionuclides was initiated in RNT owing to its dose concentration and short range. In particular, 223 Ra is widely used for bone metastasis of prostate cancer. Despite its potential for clinical applications, it is difficult to determine whether a drug has been properly delivered to the target lesion. As such, we propose a new method of monitoring nuclear gamma rays promptly and simultaneously emitted from 223 Ra as alpha decay using a high-sensitivity Compton camera. We first observed a small bottle of 223 Ra solution with a total radioactivity of 0.56 MBq. The reconstructed image converged at the correct position with a position resolution of ∼ 20 mm at a plane 10 cm in front of the camera. Next, we observed a phantom consisting of three spheres with diameters ranging from 13 to 37 mm filled with 223 Ra solution (9 kBq/mL) and then surrounded by a ∼ 20-cm layer of water. A three-dimensional (3D) image was constructed by rotating the Compton camera around the phantom. Images were then acquired from eight directions at 30-min intervals, respectively. Although the image resolution remained limited at 351 keV, three spheres were resolved at the correct position in the 3D image with their relative intensities. Thirdly, we observed the body of a patient for 10 min and reconstructed almost the same accumulation as the image acquired by a single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system for 30 min. While the spatial resolution of the Compton camera was worse, DOI-CC obtained a wider image in a shorter time. Finally, we discuss current problems and plans for improving sensitivity and angular resolution for future clinical applications.