HEP Seminar: Towards the Next Generation of High-Performance SPECT Instrumentation for Molecular Theranostic Applications

In recent years, there have been tremendous progress in novel theranostic applications, in which traditional diagnostic procedures are combined with therapeutic/surgical interventions for treating cancer, cardiovascular diseases and brain disorders, following the delivery of therapeutics, and staging the response to the treatment. With the appearance of new and challenging applications in the era of precision medicine, radiomics and AI, molecular imaging and specifically SPECT are experiencing significant growth, renewed interest, and a modernization push. By refining new collimator designs, hardware configurations and detector technology, the development of the next generation of SPECT instrumentation is currently underway to enable precise imaging and quantification of theranostic agents for treatment planning and monitoring. In this talk, I will present in detail the design, developmental status and experimental results of a series of high-performance preclinical and clinical molecular imaging systems, including: the Alpha-SPECTmini, a hyperspectral preclinical molecular imaging system for SPECT and X-ray Fluorescence CT (XFCT) applications; the Dynamic Extremity (DE-)SPECT, an organ-dedicated SPECT scanner for imaging lower extremities in patients suffering of peripheral vascular diseases; and the Alpha-SPECT system, a whole-body clinical system for imaging radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPT) with alpha-particle-emitters.