Positron Emission Particle Tracking

Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) is a technique which allows the three-dimensional, internal dynamics of opaque systems to be imaged with high temporal and spatial resolution. This book provides both an accessible introduction to, and a comprehensive reference guide for the PEPT technique. The work provides detailed information regarding the technique, its underpinning principles and underlying physics, the detectors, tracers and algorithms which allow it to operate, and the extensive, discipline-spanning work which has been performed using it. The text is accompanied by detailed interactive examples and working pre- and post-processing codes which the reader can use not only to gain still deeper insight into how PEPT works, but to directly perform PEPT analysis using real data provided. It is aimed at masters students, PhD students and researchers for whom PEPT may be a valuable research tool.

Key Features:

First comprehensive book on the PEPT technique

Written by well-respected experts in the field

Provides a practical treatment of the subject matter

Contains interactive, editable online code, produced using JupyterLab

Author Biography

Kit Windows-Yule is a Turing Fellow and two-time Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellow, currently working as a Lecturer based in the University of Birmingham’s Positron Imaging Centre. He has used PEPT in diverse projects addressing various issues of contemporary importance, including waste plastic recycling, biofuels production, pharmaceutical secondary manufacture and the study of cardiovascular disease, in projects funded by EPSRC, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, InnovateUK and the British Heart Foundation.

Leonard Nicuşan published the PEPT-ML algorithm; the paper was selected as a featured article and scientific highlight by IOP Publishing. He is the lead developer of the open-source PEPT Python library, unifying computational PEPT research, including tracking, simulation, post-processing and visualisation tools. He implemented all major PEPT algorithms to date as interactive Jupyter Notebooks in the present book.

Matthew T Herald is a PhD student at the University of Birmingham whose work focuses on applications of simulating PEPT using Monte Carlo radiation transport. His research includes validating the performance of detector models, optimising experimental parameters, benchmarking PEPT algorithms, and contributing to the development of new PEPT algorithms.

Samuel Manger is a Contributor to the construction of superPEPT and the Pept library at the University of Birmingham. He created a software implementation of the Pept-EM algorithm. Currently, Samuel is working at University of Manchester studying the interplay of patient motion and spot-scanned proton therapy treatment.

David Parker is the original co-inventor of the PEPT technique, winning the 2008 Institute of Physics Joule Medal ‘for the creation of positron emission particle tracking as a practical tool in a wide variety of engineering applications’. He has over 30 years of experience developing the PEPT technique and applying it across an expansive range of disciplines and applications. David is the a leading expert on the PEPT technique.