AN ULTRA-COMPACT N-13 AMMONIA GENERATOR FOR PET

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A DEDICATED, ACCELERATOR-BASED (13)N-AMMONIA DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET). (13)N-AMMONIA PET SCANS CAN ACCURATELY MEASURE MYOCARDIAL BLOOD FLOW AND HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE VALUABLE TOOLS IN DIAGNOSING CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE. (13)N-AMMONIA CAN ALSO BE UTILIZED TO MEASURE BLOOD FLOW IN OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY, INCLUDING THE LIVER, KIDNEY, BRAIN AND MALIGNANT TUMORS. THE GENERATOR WILL UTILIZE A VERY LOW ENERGY COAXIAL CASCADE ACCELERATOR (CCA) DEVELOPED AT SRL TO PRODUCE (13)N VIA THE (12)C(D,N)(13)N NUCLEAR REACTION. THE FULLY SHIELDED ACCELERATORY AND (13)N-AMMONIA PRODUCTION SYSTEM WILL BE HOUSED IN A 1.8 M X 1 M X 1.2 M ENCLOSURE AND WILL BE FULLY AUTOMATED WITH EASILY OPERATED PUSH-BOTTON CONTROLS. THE ESTIMATED COST OF THE (13)N-AMMONIA DELIVERY SYSTEM IS COMPARABLE TO THAT OF A ONE OF A ONE YEAR SUPPLY OF (82)RB, ANOTHER COMMONLY USED BLOOD FLOW AGENT.