Front Line Research
Particle beam analysis holds a promising range of applications in fields such as medicine, engineering, biology and archeology.
We are pursuing research and development in advanced analysis technologies utilizing particle beams.
When charged particles generated by an accelerator collide with a specimen, x-rays particular to that material are emitted. Through this, PIXE is the technology that can easily analyze elements from sodium to uranium contained in specimens without destroying them at sensitivities higher than parts per million. This laboratory is involved in the research and development of advanced engineering utilizing particle beams, including microPIXE cameras that can render intracellular elemental analysis as images, and micron CT that can capture CT images of cells.
Particle beams are used in elemental analysis and new materials, and in the creation of functional materials. But particle beams are also used in a wide range of applications in various fields such as engineering, the environment, medicine, archeology and others.
Image of elemental distribution in biological tissue obtained with micro-PIXE camera (left) and micron-X ray CT image of a model organism (Drosophila melanogaster, right)
PET: A functional diagnostic imaging scanner that is attracting attention in the medical community.
Positron emission tomography (PET) quantitatively and non-invasively acquires the functions of human body's internal organs as images through the utilization of the properties of a positron, which is an electron's antiparticle. In other words, it is an imaging technique that shows sections of an object through positron radiation. Active cancer cells take in glucose at a rate three to eight times more than normal cells, and these cancer cells use glucose as an energy source which makes them active. By utilizing this active property of a cancer cell, PET is an inspection method that makes diagnosis possible after injecting a special medical agent into the body labeled by positron emission radioisotopes which has a very similar structure to glucose. The state of the medical agent concentrating around the cancer cells that are metabolizing energy is then captured by the PET scanner and then turned into an image. Aside from early cancer detection, PET is most-suited for determining the degree of dementia progression and examining heart disease. It is a technology that is attracting attention in the medical community.
Radioisotopes can be created by using an accelerator. A radioisotope is an isotope that is short-lived and emits radiation from the body as decays. For example, fluorine 18, the radioactive isotope used in PET, has a half-life of about two hours, which makes it ideal for medicine because the isotope quickly leaves the body. Currently, the spatial resolution of PETs in the market is a few millimeters, but our staffs succeeded in developing the world's first commercial semiconductor animal PET with a spatial resolution of less than 1 millimeter seven years ago. This PET is practically utilized for drug developments, fundamental medical researches and so on. Furthermore, we contributed the development of a scanner for human brain. Now, we are studying newer technologies for this field based on our experiences and knowledges accumulated by these earlier researches.
PET scanner for small experimental animal using CdTe semiconductor detectors (upper) and human brain scanner developed with the updated technology (bottom)
