Simulation and modeling of complex biological processes in small animals

Small animal imaging is a very important research field in order to develop new radiopharmaceuticals for clinical application. Still clinical used devices are not optimised for small animal imaging, where very high spatial resolution and sensitivity is needed. A new generation of compact gamma cameras based on Position Sensitive Photomutiplier Tubes (PSPMTs) offer submillimeter resolution. These detectors are used in small animal imaging since the performance of such cameras meets the need of high resolution and high sensitivity. Such systems find clinical application as well. The most promising field for such a system is scintimammography, where metabolic information is necessary in order to discriminate benign from malicious tumors. Several parameters of imaging with PSPMTs can be studied and optimised, including crystals, collimators, data acquisition and signal and image analysis. ΑThe main objective of the proposed project is the optimization of a dedicated camera suitable for small animal imaging, which is hosted by the Greek part. In terms of this project the Greek and the Albanian team will collaborate in order to exchange knowledge in the field of detector development, crystal simulation and medical imaging. The optimised detector will be assessed using phantoms, small animals and possibly patients.