A $2 million National Institutes of Health grant will support Prof. Ling-Jian Meng and his collaborators in developing X-ray Fluorescence Emission Tomography (XFET) imaging techniques to map metal-based compounds used to enhance radiation therapy in cancer treatment.
With assistance from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Chicago collaborators, Meng’s group will be developing an ultrahigh sensitivity, broadband X-ray fluorescence emission tomography (XFET) system. The facility will combine advanced semiconductor imaging spectrometers assembled in a customized single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-inspired detection system with optimized source/filtering configurations.
The new system is expected to achieve a dramatically improved sensitivity to a broad range of metal elements that emit fluorescence X-rays. It would be ideally suited for imaging heavier elements, such as gold (Au), gadolinium (Gd), lanthanum (La), hydrogen fluoride (Hf), palladium (Pt), bismuth (Bi), cerium (Ce), iodine (I), cadmium (Cd) and selenium (Se) with adequate tissue penetration within small animals such as mice.
Recently, nanoparticles containing metals such as gold, palladium and hafnium have gained substantial attention for their potential to improve cancer therapy by enhancing cancer-specific X-ray absorption and generating radio-dynamic effects targeting cancer cells. The use of these metal-containing nano-agents offers the potential of significantly reduced radiation dose to the patients and improve the therapeutic efficacy to tumors located in deep tissue.
The XFET imaging techniques Meng and his group are developing will offer a unique imaging tool for guiding and monitoring the delivery of radiation-induced and nanoparticle-mediated radiation therapy.
This new project fits well within the mission of the Radio-Opto-Nano (RON) Working Group that Meng has established at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, along with more than 15 other faculty members of Material Science and Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Veterinary Medicine on the University of Illinois Urbana campus. The group focuses on the interface among radiological sciences, optical techniques, and nano-materials, with an emphasis on combining penetrative ionizing radiation and radio-reactive nanomaterials to introduce precisely controlled physical, chemical and biological interactions in deep tissue.
To facilitate this broad range of research and developmental effort, Meng’s group and his collaborators are developing cutting-edge nuclear (SPECT and PET) and functional X-ray imaging (X-ray fluorescence CT, X-ray luminescence CT) techniques for quantitative assessment of radio-induced drug activation/excitation and therapeutic delivery processes within deep tissue. This recent NIH award would offer a tremendous opportunity for the group to build up a comprehensive experimental facility to study the physical, chemical and biological interaction of bio-materials with X-ray radiation.
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