title: Optical imaging of alpha emitters: simulations, phantom, and in vivo results.
abstract: There has been growing interest in investigating both the in vitro and in vivo detection of optical photons from a plethora of beta emitters using optical techniques. In this paper we have investigated an alpha particle induced fluorescence signal by using a commercial CCD-based small animal optical imaging system. The light emission of a (241)Am source was simulated using GEANT4 and tested in different experimental conditions including the imaging of in vivo tissue. We believe that the results presented in this work can be useful to describe a possible mechanism for the in vivo detection of alpha emitters used for therapeutic purposes.
authors.affiliation: University of Verona Department of Neurological, Neuropsychological, Morphological and Motor Sciences, Strada Le Grazie 8, 37134 Verona, Italy. federico.boschi@univr.it
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boschi
authors.forename: Sergio Lo
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Meo
authors.forename: Pier Luca
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Calandrino
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sbarbati
authors.forename: Antonello E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Spinelli
mesh_terms: D000576:Americium / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008954:Models, Biological; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D017785:Photons; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000576:Americium