About

Chin-Tu Chen is a Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Radiology-Basic Sciences. His research interests primarily focus on integrative multi-modality molecular imaging, encompassing a broad spectrum of imaging-centered topics such as imaging physics and instrumentation, image reconstruction and processing, development of imaging tracers and probes, physiological modeling, and quantitative and intelligent image analysis. His work applies molecular imaging methods to a wide range of biological and medical investigations, especially in areas including cancer, brain disorders, cardiopulmonary diseases, and diabetes. Dr. Chen's background includes a BS in Physics from National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, an MS in Physics from Northwestern University, and a PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Chicago. His research activities are supported by multiple NIH grants, where he has served as both Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on projects related to neural stem cell migration, radiation therapy of hypoxic tumors, and preclinical and translational imaging resources. His contributions include developing advanced imaging systems such as microSPECT/MicroCT and high-resolution PET/MR imaging, as well as investigating novel radioligands and nanoparticle-based imaging techniques. Dr. Chen has authored numerous publications in the field of nuclear medicine, biophysics, radiology, and biomedical engineering, contributing significantly to the advancement of molecular imaging technologies and their applications in medical research.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Radiochemistry
• Materials science
• Optics
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Cancer research
• Oncology
• Nanotechnology
• Biophysics
• Photochemistry
• Nuclear medicine
• Pathology

Selected publications

• The Alpha-SPECT-Mini: A Small-Animal SPECT System Based on Hyperspectral Compound-Eye Gamma Cameras

  IEEE Transactions on Radiation and Plasma Medical Sciences · 2025-04-14 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  There is a rising interest in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging systems with improved energy resolution to facilitate multi-functional molecular imaging applications, such as alpha-emitter radiopharmaceutical therapy (α-RPT). In this paper, we report the design and evaluation of the Alpha-SPECT-Mini system that offers an ultrahigh energy resolution and high sensitivity for small animal studies. The Alpha-SPECT-Mini system is constructed based on small-pixel CdTe detectors that offers sub-1keV Full-Width-Half-Maximum (FWHM) energy resolution for single pixel events and an average ~2.5keV energy resolution at 122 keV and ~3.5 keV at 218 keV over 153600 pixels in the system. This allows to easily identify X- and gamma-ray contributions in densely populated spectra, such as from the Ac-225 decay chain. The system uses a 96-loft-hole collimator and six stationary detection panels in a full ring geometry. Finally, the system performance is demonstrated using Tc-99m- and Ac-225-filled resolution and image quality (IQ) phantoms. We have experimentally demonstrated that the Alpha-SPECT-Mini is a high-performance imaging system capable of imaging alpha-emitters in preclinical applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Synthesis of DOTA-Based 43Sc Radiopharmaceuticals Using Cyclotron-Produced 43Sc as Exemplified by [43Sc]Sc-PSMA-617 for PSMA PET Imaging

  Methods and Protocols · 2025-06-04 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  The implementation of theranostics in oncologic nuclear medicine has exhibited immense potential in improving patient outcomes in prostate cancer with the implementation of [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET and [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 into clinical practice. However, the correlation between radiopharmaceutical biodistributions seen with [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET imaging and downstream [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 therapy remains imperfect. This suggests that prostate cancer theranostics could potentially be further refined through the implementation of true theranostics, tandem pairs of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals that utilize the same ligand and element, thus yielding identical pharmacokinetics. The radioscandiums are one such group of true theranostic radiopharmaceuticals. The radioscandiums consist of two β+ emitting scandium isotopes (43Sc/44Sc), as well as a β− emitting therapeutic isotope (47Sc), which can all conjugate with PSMA-targeting PSMA-617. This potential has led to extensive investigations into the production of the radioscandiums as well as pre-clinical assessments with several ligands; however, there is a lack of literature extensively describing the complete synthesis of scandium radiopharmaceuticals. which therefore limits the accessibility of radioscandium research in theranostics. As such, this work aims to present an easily translatable protocol for the synthesis of [43Sc]Sc-PSMA-617 from a [42Ca]CaCO3 starting material, including target formation, nuclear production via 42Ca(d,n)43Sc reaction, chemical separation, radiolabeling, solvent reformulation, and target recycling.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Validation of the design of a high-sensitivity and high-resolution PET system for a preclinical PET/EPR hybrid scanner

  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment · 2024-04-09

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An analytic, moment-based method to estimate orthopositronium lifetimes in positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy measurements

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-07-04

  preprintOpen access

  The presence of tumor hypoxia is known to correlate with poor patient prognosis. Measurement of tissue oxygen concentration can be challenging, but recent advancements using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) in three-dimensional positron emission tomography (PET) scans have shown promise for hypoxia detection. In this work, a novel method for estimating the orthopositronium lifetime in PALS is presented. This method is analytical and uses moments of the time-difference histogram from photon arrival times. For sufficient statistical power, the method produces monotonic, stable estimates. For cases with a lower number of photon counts, the method was characterized and solutions are presented to correct for bias and estimation variability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Abstract PO5-18-01: Cancer Detection Rate Meta-Analysis Comparison of Contemporary Dense-Breast Supplemental Screening Modalities

  Cancer Research · 2024-05-02

  article

  Abstract We performed a meta-analysis of the cancer detection rates from 24 published reports in dense breasts for all contemporary and FDA-approved imaging modalities (DM, DBT, U/S, CEM, MBI, MRI) available for supplemental breast cancer screening. This information is critical to the 40% of women with BIRADS categorized dense breasts (C,D) receiving breast cancer screening. In the paper an analysis of the net lives saved using a benefit-to-risk comparison of the ionizing imaging modalities (DM, DBT and MBI) is also presented and the safety of each technique is described. Note that it is well accepted that carcinogenic risk associated with ionizing radiation doses of < 100 mSv are considered too small to be detected or altogether non-existant. Recently, with FDA's federal MQSA requirements changing to mandate notification of womens' dense-breast status (C,D), awareness has grown substantially about the dismal cancer detection performances of DM, DBT and U/S which degrades substantially with increasing breast density. Additionally, this May 2023, federal legislation was introduced in congress. The Find It Early Act (HR3086), should it become law in 2024, will require that healthcare payors cover costs for supplemental screening of women with dense breasts. Knowing and understanding the arsenal of the highest performing imaging modalities (based on cancer detection rates (CDR), Sensitivity, Specificity, NPV) is critically important for all patients and physicians caring for them. The volume of women qualifying for supplemental breast screening is expected to be managed by existing and growing numbers of all the best performing available technologies and approaches. Since the analysis is based on numerous others’ clinical trials of CDRs evaluating the various modalities in millions of women, this comprehensive analysis presents a level playing field for comparison. The top-three high performing imaging modalities (CEM, MBI, MRI) should be used to increase the number of early-stage cancers found in order to substantially decrease mortality, decrease patient trauma, decrease procedures, and decrease costs per cancer detected, all at overall benefit to the patients, the hospitals, the payors and provide long-term benefits to society. Table. Summary of Relative Cancer Detection Rates (per 1,000 women) in Dense-Breast Supplemental Screening Results of multiple pairwise meta-analyses comparing various modalities (Digital Breast Tomosynthesis; Ultrasound; Contrast Enhanced Mammography; Molecular Breast Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to Digital Mammography. “X” represents the second supplemental screening modality compared to DM. “+X” means the combination of DM+X. Two normalizations are compared: “CDR Ratio model” and “Incremental CDR model.” Table. Net Lives Saved by Ionizing Radiation Imaging Modalities per Age Decade Citation Format: Martin Tornai, James Hugg, Bradley Patt, Chin-Tu Chen, Eduardo Santos, Alaattin Erkanli, Samantha Morrison, Matthew Covington. Cancer Detection Rate Meta-Analysis Comparison of Contemporary Dense-Breast Supplemental Screening Modalities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO5-18-01.

  PublisherDOI

• Normalized comparison of cancer detection rates in contemporary breast imaging technologies used in dense-breast supplemental screening

  2024-05-29

  article

  We present an objective analysis and comparison on a level technological playing field of Cancer Detection Rates (CDRs) by performing a meta-analysis from publications about dense breasts using FDA-approved imaging modalities available for supplemental breast cancer screening in the USA. Awareness is growing about the relatively low overall cancer detection rate of digital mammography (DM), digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and breast ultrasound (US), especially for the nearly 25 million screening-eligible women with increased breast density (BIRADS C,D). Since a majority of research papers use comparisons to the screening “gold standard” of DM, analysis using pooled CDRs normalized to DM is presented. Other important factors such as the number of theoretical net lives saved using a benefit-to-risk comparison of ionizing imaging modalities is included. Lingering concerns about ionizing radiation dose of supplemental screening options are also discussed with the comparative perspective of the unavoidable yearly background dose every human being receives. This objective, normalized analysis identifies contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) and molecular breast imaging (MBI) to have Cancer Detection Rates (CDR) within 90% (and greater) of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These top-three “vascular imaging modalities” each employ injected contrast agents to enhance visualization and facilitate the detection of early-stage breast cancers. By enabling earlier diagnosis with more appropriate supplemental breast imaging, the use of either CEM, MBI or MRI will: decrease mortality; reduce patient’s physical, financial and psychological trauma; and reduce costs per cancer detected earlier, with overall benefit to the patients, the hospitals and the payors, thus providing long-term societal benefits.

  PublisherDOI

• Scandium-43-DOTATATE, a Novel Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Tracer for Neuroendocrine Tumor Imaging

  Endocrine Abstracts · 2023-12-15

  article

  Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)

  PublisherDOI

• Illuminating and Radiosensitizing Tumors with 2DG-Bound Gold-Based Nanomedicine for Targeted CT Imaging and Therapy

  Nanomaterials · 2023-06-02 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  Although radiotherapy is one of the most important curative treatments for cancer, its clinical application is associated with undesired therapeutic effects on normal or healthy tissues. The use of targeted agents that can simultaneously achieve therapeutic and imaging functions could constitute a potential solution. Herein, we developed 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2DG)-labeled poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) gold nanodots (2DG-PEG-AuD) as a tumor-targeted computed tomography (CT) contrast agent and radiosensitizer. The key advantages of the design are its biocompatibility and targeted AuD with excellent sensitivity in tumor detection via avid glucose metabolism. As a consequence, CT imaging with enhanced sensitivity and remarkable radiotherapeutic efficacy could be attained. Our synthesized AuD displayed linear enhancement of CT contrast as a function of its concentration. In addition, 2DG-PEG-AuD successfully demonstrated significant augmentation of CT contrast in both in vitro cell studies and in vivo tumor-bearing mouse models. In tumor-bearing mice, 2DG-PEG-AuD showed excellent radiosensitizing functions after intravenous injection. Results from this work indicate that 2DG-PEG-AuD could greatly potentiate theranostic capabilities by providing high-resolution anatomical and functional images in a single CT scan and therapeutic capability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Accelerator-Based Production of Scandium Radioisotopes for Applications in Prostate Cancer: Toward Building a Pipeline for Rapid Development of Novel Theranostics

  Molecules · 2023 · 13 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Chemistry
  • Radiochemistry
  • Combinatorial chemistry

  Sc-PSMA-617 are also presented.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A preclinical positron emission tomography (PET) and electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) hybrid system: PET detector module

  2022-12-15

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  <p>We report a PET detector module (DM) designed for developing a preclinical positron emission tomography (PET)-electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) hybrid system. The DM consists of a linear array of eight detector units, each of which is a 12×12 array of lutetium–yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals read by a 4×4 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array. The crystal size is approximately 1.0×1.0×10 mm3. All surfaces of the crystal are polished; except for that coupled to SiPMs they are also covered with BaSO4 to reduce light loss. The pitches of the LYSO and SiPM arrays are about 1.05 mm and 3.2 mm, respectively. The front face of the resulting DM is about 1.28×10.24 cm2 in extext and its thickness is approximately 1.8 cm. A highly multiplexing readout is devised to produce only six outputs for a DM, including two outputs that are derived from the SiPM cathode signals for determining the event time and the active DU, and four outputs that are derived from the SiPM anode signals for determining the event energy and the active crystal within the active DU. At present, these outputs are acquired by waveform sampling and analyzed offline. We have successfully developed two DMs, both showing well discriminated DUs and crystals, and an average energy resolution of about 15%. Even though time-of-flight (ToF) is not needed for the proposed system, our data shows that the DM can potentially achieve a 300-400 ps ToF resolution. </p>

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• PET imaging of a4b2 nicotinic receptor upregulation and smoking cessation

  NIH · $733k · 2017–2022

• NIH Grant S10OD025265

  NIH · $319k · 2019

• Improved Radiation Therapy of Hypoxic Tumor Regions by Integrated PET, EPR, and MR Imaging - Resubmission 01

  NIH · $3.3M · 2020–2025

• Community Outreach and Engagement

  NIH · $100.1M · 1997–2029

Frequent coauthors

• Chien-Min Kao

  University of Chicago

  78 shared

• Qingguo Xie

  34 shared

• Heejong Kim

  University of Chicago

  32 shared

• Shih‐Hsun Cheng

  University of Chicago

  29 shared

• Leu‐Wei Lo

  National Health Research Institutes

  25 shared

• Wei‐Chung Lin

  National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

  25 shared

• Hsiu‐Ming Tsai

  University of Chicago

  22 shared

• Jeffrey S. Souris

  University of Chicago

  21 shared

Labs

• Chin-Tu Chen LaboratoryPI

Education

• Ph.D., Radiology

  University of Chicago

  1990

• M.D., Medicine

  University of Chicago

  1985

• B.S., Biological Science

  National Yang Ming University

  1981