A statistical reconstruction algorithm for positronium lifetime imaging using time-of-flight positron emission tomography.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important modality for diagnosing diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease, capable of revealing the uptake of radiolabeled molecules that target specific pathological markers of the diseases. Recently, positronium lifetime imaging (PLI) that adds to traditional PET the ability to explore properties of the tissue microenvironment beyond tracer uptake has been demonstrated with time-of-flight (TOF) PET and the use of non-pure positron emitters. However, achieving accurate reconstruction of lifetime images from data acquired by systems having a finite TOF resolution still presents a challenge.