Towards paediatric molecular imaging: development of PHOENIX, a low-dose and high-performance total body PET scanner

Towards paediatric molecular imaging: development of PHOENIX, a low-dose and high-performance total body PET scanner Positron emission tomography (PET) constitutes the imaging modality of excellence in nuclear medicine. However, conventional PET scanners are not optimised in terms of sensitivity and spatial resolution. Moreover, since PET imaging requires injecting radiotracers, its use is compromised in paediatrics. To extend the use of PET, I aim to develop a prototype version of a total body PET for paediatric imaging. The system, named PHOENIX, targets a sensitivity 30 times greater than that of clinical PET. The detectors will be based on semi-monolithic scintillators after BGO. This design allows characterising the light distributions to enable 3D photon interaction positioning while providing time-of-flight capabilities by exploiting the BGO´s Cherenkov yield. If successful, PHOENIX will promote PET imaging of children, improve its diagnostic capabilities, staging and response assessment.