1
|
Moskal P, Baran J, Bass S, Choiński J, Chug N, Curceanu C, Czerwiński E, Dadgar M, Das M, Dulski K, Eliyan KV, Fronczewska K, Gajos A, Kacprzak K, Kajetanowicz M, Kaplanoglu T, Kapłon Ł, Klimaszewski K, Kobylecka M, Korcyl G, Kozik T, Krzemień W, Kubat K, Kumar D, Kunikowska J, Mączewska J, Migdał W, Moskal G, Mryka W, Niedźwiecki S, Parzych S, Del Rio EP, Raczyński L, Sharma S, Shivani S, Shopa RY, Silarski M, Skurzok M, Tayefi F, Ardebili KT, Tanty P, Wiślicki W, Królicki L, Stępień EŁ. Positronium image of the human brain in vivo. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadp2840. [PMID: 39270027 PMCID: PMC11397496 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adp2840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 08/09/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024]
Abstract
Positronium is abundantly produced within the molecular voids of a patient's body during positron emission tomography (PET). Its properties dynamically respond to the submolecular architecture of the tissue and the partial pressure of oxygen. Current PET systems record only two annihilation photons and cannot provide information about the positronium lifetime. This study presents the in vivo images of positronium lifetime in a human, for a patient with a glioblastoma brain tumor, by using the dedicated Jagiellonian PET system enabling simultaneous detection of annihilation photons and prompt gamma emitted by a radionuclide. The prompt gamma provides information on the time of positronium formation. The photons from positronium annihilation are used to reconstruct the place and time of its decay. In the presented case study, the determined positron and positronium lifetimes in glioblastoma cells are shorter than those in salivary glands and those in healthy brain tissues, indicating that positronium imaging could be used to diagnose disease in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Moskal
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Jakub Baran
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Steven Bass
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
- Kitzbühel Centre for Physics, Kitzbühel, Austria
| | | | - Neha Chug
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Catalina Curceanu
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via E. Fermi 40, 00044 Frascati, Italy
| | - Eryk Czerwiński
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Meysam Dadgar
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Manish Das
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Kamil Dulski
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Kavya V Eliyan
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Fronczewska
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Aleksander Gajos
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Kacprzak
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Marcin Kajetanowicz
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Tevfik Kaplanoglu
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Łukasz Kapłon
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Konrad Klimaszewski
- Department of Complex Systems, National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Kobylecka
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Korcyl
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Tomasz Kozik
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Wojciech Krzemień
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
- High Energy Department, National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
| | - Karol Kubat
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Deepak Kumar
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Jolanta Kunikowska
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Joanna Mączewska
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Migdał
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Gabriel Moskal
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
- Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 2, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Wiktor Mryka
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Szymon Niedźwiecki
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Szymon Parzych
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Elena P Del Rio
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Lech Raczyński
- Department of Complex Systems, National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
| | - Sushil Sharma
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Shivani Shivani
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Roman Y Shopa
- Department of Complex Systems, National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
| | - Michał Silarski
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Magdalena Skurzok
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Faranak Tayefi
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Keyvan T Ardebili
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Pooja Tanty
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Wojciech Wiślicki
- Department of Complex Systems, National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
| | - Leszek Królicki
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ewa Ł Stępień
- Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, S. Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 40, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Steinberger WM, Mercolli L, Breuer J, Sari H, Parzych S, Niedzwiecki S, Lapkiewicz G, Moskal P, Stepien E, Rominger A, Shi K, Conti M. Positronium lifetime validation measurements using a long-axial field-of-view positron emission tomography scanner. EJNMMI Phys 2024; 11:76. [PMID: 39210079 PMCID: PMC11362402 DOI: 10.1186/s40658-024-00678-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Positron emission tomography (PET) traditionally uses coincident annihilation photons emitted from a positron interacting with an electron to localize cancer within the body. The formation of positronium (Ps), a bonded electron-positron pair, has not been utilized in clinical applications of PET due to the need to detect either the emission of a prompt gamma ray or the decay of higher-order coincident events. Assessment of the lifetime of the formed Ps, however, can potentially yield additional diagnostic information of the surrounding tissue because Ps properties vary due to void size and molecular composition. To assess the feasibility of measuring Ps lifetimes with a PET scanner, experiments were performed in a Biograph Vision Quadra (Siemens Healthineers). Quadra is a long-axial field-of-view (LA-FOV) PET scanner capable of producing list-mode data from single interaction events. RESULTS Ortho-Ps (o-Ps) lifetimes were measured for quartz-glass and polycarbonate samples using a22 Na positron source. Results produced o-Ps lifetimes of 1.538 ± 0.036 ns for the quartz glass and 1.927 ± 0.042 ns for the polycarbonate. Both o-Ps lifetimes were determined using a double-exponential fit to the time-difference distribution between the emission of a prompt gamma ray and the annihilation of the correlated positron. The measured values match within a single standard deviation of previously published results. The quartz-glass samples were additional measured with82 Rb ,68 Ga and124 I to validate the lifetime using clinically available sources. A double-exponential fit was initially chosen as a similar methodology to previously published works, however, an exponentially-modified Gaussian distribution fit to each lifetime more-accurately models the data. A Bayesian method was used to estimate the variables of the fit and o-Ps lifetime results are reported using this methodology for the three clinical isotopes: 1.59 ± 0.03 ns for82 Rb , 1.58 ± 0.07 ns for68 Ga and 1.62 ± 0.01 ns for124 I . The impact of scatter and attenuation on the o-Ps lifetime was also assessed by analyzing a water-filled uniform cylinder (20 ϕ × 30 cm3 ) with an added82 Rb solution. Lifetimes were extracted for various regions of the cylinder and while there is a shape difference in the lifetime due to scatter, the extracted o-Ps lifetime of the water, 1.815 ± 0.013 ns, agrees with previously published results. CONCLUSION Overall, the methodology presented in this manuscript demonstrates the repeatability of Ps lifetime measurements with clinically available isotopes in a commercially-available LA-FOV PET scanner. This validation work lays the foundation for future in-vivo patient scans with Quadra.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lorenzo Mercolli
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Hasan Sari
- Siemens Healthineers International AG, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Szymon Parzych
- Center for Theranostics, Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Lojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
| | - Szymon Niedzwiecki
- Center for Theranostics, Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Lojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
| | - Gabriela Lapkiewicz
- Center for Theranostics, Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Lojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
| | - Pawel Moskal
- Center for Theranostics, Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Lojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
| | - Ewa Stepien
- Center for Theranostics, Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Lojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
| | - Axel Rominger
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Kuangyu Shi
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Maurizio Conti
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Knoxville, TN, 37932, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Moskal P, Kubicz E, Grudzień G, Czerwiński E, Dulski K, Leszczyński B, Niedźwiecki S, Stępień EŁ. Developing a novel positronium biomarker for cardiac myxoma imaging. EJNMMI Phys 2023; 10:22. [PMID: 36959477 PMCID: PMC10036702 DOI: 10.1186/s40658-023-00543-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Cardiac myxoma (CM), the most common cardiac tumor in adults, accounts for 50-75% of benign cardiac tumors. The diagnosis of CM is often elusive, especially in young stroke survivors and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is the initial technique for the differential diagnostics of CM. Less invasive cardiac computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are not available for the majority of cardiac patients. Here, a robust imaging approach, ortho-Positronium (o-Ps) imaging, is presented to determine cardiac myxoma extracted from patients undergoing urgent cardiac surgery due to unexpected atrial masses. We aimed to assess if the o-Ps atom, produced copiously in intramolecular voids during the PET imaging, serves as a biomarker for CM diagnosing. METHODS Six perioperative CM and normal (adipose) tissue samples from patients, with primary diagnosis confirmed by the histopathology examination, were examined using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and micro-CT. Additionally, cell cultures and confocal microscopy techniques were used to picture cell morphology and origin. RESULTS We observed significant shortening in the mean o-Ps lifetime in tumor with compare to normal tissues: an average value of 1.92(02) ns and 2.72(05) ns for CM and the adipose tissue, respectively. Microscopic differences between tumor samples, confirmed in histopathology examination and micro-CT, did not influenced the major positronium imaging results. CONCLUSIONS Our findings, combined with o-Ps lifetime analysis, revealed the novel emerging positronium imaging marker (o-PS) for cardiovascular imaging. This method opens the new perspective to facilitate the quantitative in vivo assessment of intracardiac masses on a molecular (nanoscale) level.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Moskal
- Department of Experimental Particle Physics and Applications, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland.
- Total-Body Jagiellonian-PET Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
- Center for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Ewelina Kubicz
- Total-Body Jagiellonian-PET Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
- Center for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
- Department of Medical Physics, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Grzegorz Grudzień
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantology, John Paul II Hospital, Kraków, Poland
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
| | - Eryk Czerwiński
- Department of Experimental Particle Physics and Applications, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland
- Total-Body Jagiellonian-PET Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Kamil Dulski
- Department of Experimental Particle Physics and Applications, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland
- Total-Body Jagiellonian-PET Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Bartosz Leszczyński
- Department of Medical Physics, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland
| | - Szymon Niedźwiecki
- Department of Experimental Particle Physics and Applications, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland
- Total-Body Jagiellonian-PET Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Ewa Ł Stępień
- Total-Body Jagiellonian-PET Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
- Center for Theranostics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
- Department of Medical Physics, Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Kraków, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|