Compact and Handheld Radioisotope Imaging Systems for Bio-medicine

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is a U.S. Department of Energy federally funded research and development center whose mission is to study quark gluon physics. The laboratory capitalizes on its unique technologies and expertise to explore ways of applying nuclear physics principles and technologies to societal needs. The Radiation Detector and Imaging Group, in collaboration with universities, industry and other government laboratories, has for several years been applying advances in nuclear physics detector technology to several applications, particularly in the development of compact and handheld nuclear imaging systems. I will provide a brief overview of Jefferson Lab and provide examples of how the group has leveraged nuclear physics to bring advances to nuclear medicine, medical research and plant biology. The group continues to develop medical devices based on both single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), making use of technology originally developed for basic nuclear physics research.