Full 3D position reconstruction of a radioactive source based on a novel hyperbolic geometrical algorithm

Costanza M V Panaino; Ranald I Mackay; Marios Sotiropoulos; Karen J Kirkby; Michael J Taylor

doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2019.107131

Full 3D position reconstruction of a radioactive source based on a novel hyperbolic geometrical algorithm

Comput Phys Commun. 2020 Jul:252:107131. doi: 10.1016/j.cpc.2019.107131.

Authors

Costanza M V Panaino¹, Ranald I Mackay^{1

2}, Marios Sotiropoulos¹, Karen J Kirkby^{1

2}, Michael J Taylor^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK.
² The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, M20 4BX, Manchester, UK.

Abstract

A new method to locate, with millimetre uncertainty, in 3D, a $γ$ -ray source emitting multiple $γ$ -rays in a cascade, employing conventional LaBr₃(Ce) scintillation detectors, has been developed. Using 16 detectors in a symmetrical configuration the detector energy and time signals, resulting from the $γ$ -ray interactions, are fed into a new source position reconstruction algorithm. The Monte-Carlo based Geant4 framework has been used to simulate the detector array and a ⁶⁰Co source located at two positions within the spectrometer central volume. For a source located at (0,0,0) the algorithm reports X, Y, Z values of -0.3 ± 2.5, -0.4 ± 2.4, and -0.6 ± 2.5 mm, respectively. For a source located at (20,20,20) mm, with respect to the array centre, the algorithm reports X, Y, Z values of 20.2 ± 1.0, 20.2 ± 0.9, and 20.1 ± 1.2 mm. The resulting precision of the reconstruction means that this technique could find application in a number of areas including nuclear medicine, national security, radioactive waste assay and proton beam therapy.

Keywords: Gamma-ray spectroscopy; Reconstruction algorithm; Source emission position reconstruction.