Inkjet fabrication of phantoms for autoradiography and medical imaging
Physical Measurement Laboratory, Radiation Physics Division
NIST only participates in the February and August reviews.
The spatial resolution and sensitivity of autoradiography cameras continues to improve, supporting measurements in preclinical and clinical medicine, environmental monitoring, and nuclear nonproliferation. User communities have expressed a need for test objects or “phantoms” with radioactive features of precisely defined spatial dimensions and traceable activity that can be used for calibration in advanced imaging methods. At NIST, advances in “drop-on-demand” inkjet technology are poised to meet this need. Advanced gravimetric techniques allow the precise deposition of picoliter quantities of radioactive solutions with activities calibrated by primary methods. Features with dimensions < 20 μm can be achieved. In addition to two-dimensional phantoms for autoradiography, advanced additive manufacturing methods can be used to print layered phantoms in three dimensions as test objects for preclinical quantitative molecular imaging by positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission tomography (SPECT). The research associate will join a multidisciplinary team of experts to develop new approaches to mass and radionuclide metrology with inkjet technology and will have opportunities to build collaborations with end-users in radiochemistry, medicine, and related fields.