Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TEMPORAL (TEMPORAL IMG: Temporal radiation imager for nuclear equipment dismantling and nuclear medicine)

Teaser

Damavan imaging is developing a breakthrough innovation in gamma ray imaging: Temporal imaging. This innovation can be used on various applications and markets, mostly in medical imaging. The most advanced application of temporal imaging in term of development (TRL8) and early...

Summary

Damavan imaging is developing a breakthrough innovation in gamma ray imaging: Temporal imaging. This innovation can be used on various applications and markets, mostly in medical imaging. The most advanced application of temporal imaging in term of development (TRL8) and early sales is a Portable Compton Camera for nuclear decommissioning which is the subject of this proposal.

Our innovation is based on using both spatial and time distribution of photons in monolithic and fast scintillators. This allows much better localization of gamma photons in space, time and energy. This innovation is protected by 7 patents claims so far.

The key advantages of our innovation for Portable Compton camera are increased angular resolution (from 20° to 6°), an order of magnitude gain in sensitivity, and reduced cost compared to prior art. We are currently testing our prototype in realistic environments and have obtained first prototype orders from major actors in the field.
Our camera will be used for the decommissioning of nuclear installations. In those sites there is an uncertainty in the nature (isotope identification), location (imaging) and flux (dosimetry) of radioactive contamination. This hazard must be mapped to define radiological zones in order to evaluate the risks prior to any decontamination operation. This process, done through direct sampling is both costly and exposes the operators to radiations.

The “binocular” Compton camera we are developing will allow producing a 3D Map of radioactivity allowing a strong cost reduction and safety improvement for operators. Besides, it will also reduce the volume of radioactive waste to store.

The market today for this type of imagers is of at least 20 M$ worldwide but is growing quickly (>20% year). Binocular vision in one package has a strong technical and market appeal for this segment, but is not doable cost effectively with existing products.
Temporal imaging is a generic solution: The biggest existing potential is PET scanners (2 G$ +7%/year growth). But entry in this market is very slow: the portable camera will be our main product during this lag.

Work performed

The main impact so far of the H2020 project on Damavan Imaging has been to put our company on the map of the best innovative companies in Europe. This gave us credibility with our existing European partners (D, UK, Sp). Project had two main scopes: technical & Marketing and IP.

1) Technical:

The project had 4 technical objectives:

• Improving Compton image quality to the level allowing binocular imaging;
• Demonstrating the feasibility of binocular imaging from a limited change of point of view (20 cm) compatible with a portable equipment;
• Developing the electronic cards needed for supporting two Compton heads; hence binocular camera
• Assembling a prototype.

The funding from H2020 has helped us to improve the imaging performances of our camera. The project has been successful technically: the performance obtained during the proof of concern of binocular imaging is in line with initial objectives (gamma ray distance ranging multiple source with a 10% precision). We are in contact with customer in UK to proceed to binocular imaging tests in actual conditions (imaging waste drums)
The electronics needed for making a binocular Compton camera are there, but the transfer of the codes on those new electronics has taken longer than planned, hence the technical development is behind schedule. Thanks to the project we have a commercial demonstrator with 1 head. Transferring the design to dual head is easy, thus this objective is met at 80%
On the 4 technical objectives of the project, 2 have been met, one partly (electronics = 50%) and one has been met at 80%.
We now have a commercial demonstrator and can start selling.

2) Markets and strategy

The project has enabled us to more actively explore our launch market: portable Compton camera for nuclear industry & decommissioning by meeting customers in UK and potential distributors (UK, Spain, France, Russia). The market seems bigger than our initial estimates (>20 M€ worldwide today). The technologies present (H3D, Hent) do not satisfy the market in term of price/performance mix. Our camera is attracting a lot of commercial interest. Things are getting according to plan but slower because of technical delays on our side.
The New markets study with Erdyn has been very useful in clarifying the potential of new segments in medical imaging that could be developed using our technology:

• Injection control prior to PET scan with our camera does not seem to be a clinical need….

• … but controlling radiotherapy injections (131I, 177Lu…) with our camera could be a medical application for our binocular camera. Potential volume does not appear very large (<10 M€), but it could boost our early sales at minimal cost.

• Large animal imaging with our camera or more complex hybrid system seem a real potential. We have found medical partners willing to pursue on this path. We have applied to an EU supported Attract project in collaboration with Spanish (I3M) partners. The volume of market is highly uncertain but could be >>10M€ and is worth a dedicated market study.

• Radiotherapy in situ dose deposition monitoring is certainly the big game for us. Potential market is estimated by Erdyn to be >6000 M$. There certainly is a need for the solution we have in mind, but there is scepticism from practitioners that our imager could deliver adequate performance. A key step for us is thus acquiring proof of concept images from a 6 MeV radiotherapy equipment. We already have the financing for such a step through a regional R&D project: Oncial.

Final results

The compton camera we are developing is highly original in term of design:
- use monolithic CeBr3 scintillators vs pixelated scintillators or CZT semi-conductors
- use timing information and timing veto to make better images
As a consequence:
- We have an exceptional signal/noise ratio allowing us to image natural radio-elements (like 40K in glass sheets): 1 KBq at 1 meter
- We have the best sensitivity in the market: 1 KBq at 1 meter
- We have the best spatial resolution on the market (5°) and timing resolution (205 ps)
During the project we have also demonstrated for the first time binocular gamma-ray imaging compatible with a portable instrument (2 heads 20 cm apart). We have imaged 2 sources at distance of 0,7 and 1m and have retrieved a correct value within 10% error.
This kind of instrument is in high demand for nuclear installation dismantling: It will save money, operator exposure and volume of waste in this context.
We hope to sell dozens of our camera with the coming 3 years, generating high quality jobs in our depressed region.

Website & more info

More info: https://damavan-imaging.com.