Portable Radiation Sensors for Personalized Medicine
Background
Theranostics is transforming nuclear medicine by combining diagnostics and therapeutics to
treat neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Currently in the US, any given cancer patient receives
the same radiation dose. Adapting the treatment based on measured doses to organs-at-risk
(OAR) currently requires costly PET scans. This project aims to develop a portable dosimetry
solution that eliminates the need for daily hospital visits. It will reduce reliance on
expensive imaging systems and increase access to personalized cancer treatments. These
innovations will improve patient outcomes and make theranostics more efficient and widely
available.
Source: doi.org/10.1007/s44211-023-00452-z
Key Objectives
- Develop Portable Dosimetry Tools: Design electronics that enable accurate and real-time dose monitoring in a portable form factor.
- Streamline Clinical Workflow: Integrate systems that reduce time and resource demands, facilitating easier implementation in healthcare settings.
- Enhance Patient Experience: Create solutions that prioritize patient comfort and convenience, reducing the need for multiple clinical visits.
- Support Data-Driven Decision Making: Enable robust data collection and analysis for continuous improvement of treatment protocols.
Electronics
For tumor dosimetry, so-called PODD detectors are used. Each PODD probe detector consists
of a GAGG scintillator, a matching SiPM device, and a pinhole tungsten collimator. The
current Portable Organ Dosimetry Device (PODD) employs 16 probes, providing comprehensive
coverage for accurate dosimetry measurements. The electrical signals from the PODD
detectors are processed by a custom-built analog board, which employs a
Time-Over-Threshold (ToT) based pulse generation circuitry.
The analog board outputs are then processed by the Altera DE-0 Nano FPGA board,
which handles data acquisition. The design deployed onto the FPGA keeps a record of the
occurrences of pulses with different pulse widths and stores this histogram data on the
On-Chip memory. The FPGA transfers the histogram data to the MIKROE Clicker 2 board, which
controls the device and enables communication with a mobile application over Bluetooth Low
Energy (BLE).
Collaboration
This is a collaboration between the labs of Prof. Robert Miyaoka of UW
Radiology, and Prof. Scott Hauck of UW Electrical and Computer Engineering,
with significant help from Dr. William C. J. Hunter.
Researchers: Pavan Sai Guntha, Ethan Ingalls.