Three-Gamma Imaging in Nuclear Medicine: A Review

Three-gamma imaging is attracting attention as a futuristic diagnostic imaging method that surpasses positron emission tomography (PET). Its conceptual key is using beta(+)-gamma nuclides that simultaneously emit a prompt gamma ray with the positron decay. In this review, we have categorized the utilizations of prompt gamma rays into three categories: 1) multiple positron emitter imaging; 2) reconstruction-less positron emission imaging; and 3) positronium lifetime imaging. Multiple positron emitter imaging utilizes the prompt gamma ray as a trigger to discriminate from signals of pure positron emitters to enable simultaneous injection and imaging of two different radioisotopes. Reconstruction-less positron emission imaging combines PET and Compton imaging technologies to estimate the source position as almost a point for each triple coincidence event. Positronium lifetime imaging utilizes the prompt gamma ray as a starting signal to measure the time difference between positronium formation and annihilation for each triple coincidence event as its lifetime. This is because the positronium lifetime is affected by the surrounding microenvironment of electrons, it is expected to provide new information regarding biological conditions, such as the hypoxia state. In this review we introduce the principles of the three categories of three-gamma imaging methods, prototype development, and demonstration experiments.