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By Dr. Craig S. Levin

Short abstract:

We are studying new detection concepts, methods, and system designs to advance time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET). In this talk we will describe three efforts in this direction. The first is a ‘radio-frequency-penetrable’ PET insert design that we are building for simultaneous brain TOF-PET/MRI of neurological disorders that employs novel design features to enable <250 ps annihilation photon pair coincidence time resolution (CTR), which would be a notable advance for MR-compatible TOF-PET. The second is a TOF-PET/CT system under construction for cancer imaging applications that achieves ~100 picoseconds (ps) CTR by employing a novel scintillation detector configuration and electronic readout. The third is completely new concept for a 511 keV photon detector that, if successful, will achieve <10 ps CTR. If successful, these technologies will lead to next generation systems that enhance TOF-PET's ability to visualize and quantify disease.

Short CV:

Dr. Craig S. Levin is a Professor of Radiology and, by Courtesy, of Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Bioengineering at Stanford University, U.S.A., and is currently a Visiting Professor at University of Leeds, UK. He is a founding member of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, and Principal Investigator and Director of the NIH-NCI funded T32 Stanford Molecular Imaging Scholars postdoctoral training program. He received his M.S., M.Phil, and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from Yale University. An internationally recognized researcher in the field of molecular imaging he has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and 40 patents awarded or pending. He directs a 20-member laboratory that explores new concepts in instrumentation and software algorithms for molecular imaging, introduces some of these new tools into clinical and pre-clinical imaging studies of cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders, and partners with industry to disseminate some of these technologies into products used for patient care throughout the world. To support his research, he has generated numerous grant awards as Principal Investigator from government, industry, and private institutions. He lectured in a Nobel symposium in 2007, and in 2012 was elected into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s College of Fellows and in 2012 was also given the Academy of Radiology Research Distinguished Investigator Recognition Award. In 2020 he received the Edward J. Hoffman Medical Imaging Scientist award from the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society. He is currently on sabbatical at University of Leeds where he was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorship.

Location: Bentham House | UCL Maps, LG10 Lecture Room