sensL, a provider of low-light detectors based in Cork, Ireland, has announced its collaboration in an open-source electronics programme for positron emission tomography (PET), a technique used in medical imaging. The openPET programme is being undertaken alongside the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California, USA.
This openPET programme is the first of its kind in the medical imaging sector and is a concept jointly developed by the researchers of sensL and LBNL. Both groups are actively working together with users to produce the first prototype system, which will incorporate sensL's solid-state light detectors and readout system and LBNL's back-end electronics. OpenPET is designed so that it is compatible with a wide variety of detectors and will be freely available to researchers and organisations within the medical imaging field. The openPET group believes that this will speed the development of new medical imaging systems, thus aiding physicians in the detection of cancer, Alzheimer's, and cardiac disease. This concept mimics the open source software movement, which has revolutionised the software industry.
sensL believes that the open source approach represents the fastest way to its silicon photomultiplier products to the medical imaging market, and that the programme will change developers' perceptions on how best to develop systems in the future.
