Medica-Plus: a Novel Micromegas Detector for High Resolution Beta-Imaging
Résumé
For many years, 3H and 14C labelling of molecules of pharmaceutical interest has been performed to study their in vivo biodistribution on animal tissue sections through β-particles detection. β imaging was classically obtained by film autoradiography, but this technique suffers from long acquisition times (low detection sensitivity), absence of real-time imaging and easy access to quantitative data.
For this reason, film autoradiography has been supplanted in most of its applications by the development of digital autoradiography imagers (β imagers) that overcome most drawbacks of classical autoradiography, by offering high sensitivity and real-time imaging, but at the cost of lower resolution. However, a major limitation of current commercial β imagers resides in their prices, different sensitivity between radioelements (3H versus 14C) and absence of dual-imaging (detection of both
3H versus 14C) in the same acquisition.
In the frame of the Medica-Plus project aiming at performing quantification of a drug inside single cell, our team is developing a new gaseous detector based on the Micromegas technology to overcome the current limitations of current β imagers. The poster will present a brief overview of the obstacles and challenges encountered on the way, and our strategies to solve them.