Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Super-spatial resolution method combined with the maximum-likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) algorithm for alpha imaging detector

  • Kim, Guna (Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences) ;
  • Lim, Ilhan (Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences) ;
  • Song, Kanghyon (Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences) ;
  • Kim, Jong-Guk (Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences)
  • Received : 2021.08.13
  • Accepted : 2021.12.17
  • Published : 2022.06.25
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Abstract

Recently, the demand for alpha imaging detectors for quantifying the distributions of alpha particles has increased in various fields. This study aims to reconstruct a high-resolution image from an alpha imaging detector by applying a super-spatial resolution method combined with the maximum-likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) algorithm. To perform the super-spatial resolution method, several images are acquired while slightly moving the detector to predefined positions. Then, a forward model for imaging is established by the system matrix containing the mechanical shifts, subsampling, and measured point-spread function of the imaging system. Using the measured images and system matrix, the MLEM algorithm is implemented, which converges towards a high-resolution image. We evaluated the performance of the proposed method through the Monte Carlo simulations and phantom experiments. The results showed that the super-spatial resolution method was successfully applied to the alpha imaging detector. The spatial resolution of the resultant image was improved by approximately 12% using four images. Overall, the study's outcomes demonstrate the feasibility of the super-spatial resolution method for the alpha imaging detector. Possible applications of the proposed method include high-resolution imaging for alpha particles of in vitro sliced tissue and pre-clinical biologic assessments for targeted alpha therapy.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by a grant of the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation (NRF) (NRF-2020R1A2C1003333) and grants of the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) (No. 50461-2021; 50547-2021), funded by Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), Republic of Korea.

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