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At least 433 records · Page 24

High resolution dual detector volume-of-interest cone beam breast CT - Demonstration with a bench top system

Purpose: In this study, we used a small field high resolution detector in conjunction with a full field flat panel detector to implement and investigate the dual detector volume-of-interest (VOI) cone beam breast computed tomography (CBCT) technique on a bench-top system. The potential of using this technique to image small calcifications without increasing the overall dose to the breast was demonstrated. Significant reduction of scatter components in the high resolution projection image data of the VOI was also shown. Methods: With the regular flat panel based CBCT technique, exposures were made at 80 kVp to generate an air kerma of 6 mGys at the isocenter. With the dual detector VOI CBCT technique, a high resolution small field CMOS detector was used to scan a cylindrical VOI (2.5 cm in diameter and height, 4.5 cm off-center) with collimated x-rays at four times of regular exposure level. A flat panel detector was used for full field scan with low x-ray exposures at half of the regular exposure level. The low exposure full field image data were used to fill in the truncated space in the VOI scan data and generate a complete projection image set. The Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) filtered backprojection algorithm was used to reconstruct high resolution images for the VOI. Two scanning techniques, one breast centered and the other VOI centered, were implemented and investigated. Paraffin cylinders with embedded thin aluminum (Al) wires were imaged and used in conjunction with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dose measurements to demonstrate the ability of this technique to image small calcifications without increasing the mean glandular dose (MGD). Results: Using exposures that produce an air kerma of 6 mGys at the isocenter, the regular CBCT technique was able to resolve the cross-sections of Al wires as thin as 254 {mu}m in diameter in the phantom. For the specific VOI studied, by increasing the exposure level by a factor of 4 for the VOI scan and reducing the exposure level by a factor of 2 for the full filed scan, the dual-detector CBCT technique was able to resolve the cross-sections of Al wires as thin as 152 {mu}m in diameter. The CNR evaluated for the entire Al wire cross-section was found to be improved from 5.5 in regular CBCT to 14.4 and 16.8 with the breast centered and VOI centered scanning techniques, respectively. Even inside VOI center, the VOI scan resulted in significant dose saving with the dose reduced by a factor of 1.6 at the VOI center. Dose saving outside the VOI was substantial with the dose reduced by a factor of 7.3 and 7.8 at the breast center for the breast centered and VOI centered scans, respectively, when compared to full field scan at the same exposure level. The differences between the two dual detector techniques in terms of dose saving and scatter reduction were small with VOI scan at 4x exposure level and full field scan at 0.5x exposure level. The MGDs were only 94% of that from the regular CBCT scan. Conclusions: For the specific VOI studied, the dual detector VOI CBCT technique has the potential to provide high quality images inside the VOI with MGD similar to or even lower than that of full field breast CBCT. It was also found that our results were compromised by the use of inadequate detectors for the VOI scan. An appropriately selected detector would better optimize the image quality improvement that can be achieved with the VOI CBCT technique.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Automated image-based colon cleansing for laxative-free CT colonography computer-aided polyp detection

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of a computer-aided detection (CAD) system for detecting colonic polyps at noncathartic computed tomography colonography (CTC) in conjunction with an automated image-based colon cleansing algorithm. Methods: An automated colon cleansing algorithm was designed to detect and subtract tagged-stool, accounting for heterogeneity and poor tagging, to be used in conjunction with a colon CAD system. The method is locally adaptive and combines intensity, shape, and texture analysis with probabilistic optimization. CTC data from cathartic-free bowel preparation were acquired for testing and training the parameters. Patients underwent various colonic preparations with barium or Gastroview in divided doses over 48 h before scanning. No laxatives were administered and no dietary modifications were required. Cases were selected from a polyp-enriched cohort and included scans in which at least 90% of the solid stool was visually estimated to be tagged and each colonic segment was distended in either the prone or supine view. The CAD system was run comparatively with and without the stool subtraction algorithm. Results: The dataset comprised 38 CTC scans from prone and/or supine scans of 19 patients containing 44 polyps larger than 10 mm (22 unique polyps, if matched between prone and supine scans). The results are robust on fine details around folds, thin-stool linings on the colonic wall, near polyps and in large fluid/stool pools. The sensitivity of the CAD system is 70.5% per polyp at a rate of 5.75 false positives/scan without using the stool subtraction module. This detection improved significantly (p = 0.009) after automated colon cleansing on cathartic-free data to 86.4% true positive rate at 5.75 false positives/scan. Conclusions: An automated image-based colon cleansing algorithm designed to overcome the challenges of the noncathartic colon significantly improves the sensitivity of colon CAD by approximately 15%.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Toward in vivo lung's tissue incompressibility characterization for tumor motion modeling in radiation therapy

Purpose: A novel technique is proposed to characterize lung tissue incompressibility variation during respiration. Estimating lung tissue incompressibility parameter variations resulting from air content variation throughout respiration is critical for computer assisted tumor motion tracking. Continuous tumor motion is a major challenge in lung cancer radiotherapy, especially with external beam radiotherapy. If not accounted for, this motion may lead to areas of radiation overdosage for normal tissue. Given the unavailability of imaging modality that can be used effectively for real-time lung tumor tracking, computer assisted approach based on tissue deformation estimation can be a good alternative. This approach involves lung biomechanical model where its fidelity depends on input tissue properties. This investigation shows that considering variable tissue incompressibility parameter is very important for predicting tumor motion accurately, hence improving the lung radiotherapy outcome. Methods: First, an in silico lung phantom study was conducted to demonstrate the importance of employing variable Poisson's ratio for tumor motion predication. After it was established that modeling this variability is critical for accurate tumor motion prediction, an optimization based technique was developed to estimate lung tissue Poisson's ratio as a function of respiration cycle time. In this technique, the Poisson's ratio and lung pressure value were varied systematically until optimal values were obtained, leading to maximum similarity between acquired and simulated 4D CT lung images. This technique was applied in an ex vivo porcine lung study where simulated images were constructed using the end exhale CT image and deformation fields obtained from the lung's FE modeling of each respiration time increment. To model the tissue, linear elastic and Marlow hyperelastic material models in conjunction with variable Poisson's ratio were used. Results: The phantom study showed that the tumor motion trajectory and its final locations obtained from simulations with and without considering tissue incompressibility variation were very different. For example, tumor displacements in the z direction were -11.23 and -38.10 mm obtained with the Marlow hyperelastic material model in conjunction with constant and variable Poisson's ratio, respectively. By comparing the acquired 4D-CT image sequence of the porcine lung with their image sequence counterparts obtained from the hyperelastic model with constant and variable Poisson's ratio, it was shown that using variable tissue incompressibility reduced errors significantly in tumor motion prediction. Conclusions: This investigation demonstrates the importance of incompressibility variation estimation and utilization for accurate tumor tracking in computer assisted lung external beam radiation therapy. An optimization framework was developed to estimate a Poisson's ratio function in terms of respiration cycle time using experimental image data of the lung. Utilizing this function along with respiratory system FE modeling may lead to more effective tumor targeting, hence potentially improving the outcome of lung external beam radiation therapy techniques. This is particularly true for stereotactic body radiation therapy where only one or a few fraction treatments are applied, precluding the possibility of averaging out dosimetric deviations introduced by the respiratory motion.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Novel multimodality segmentation using level sets and Jensen-Rényi divergence

Purpose: Positron emission tomography (PET) is playing an increasing role in radiotherapy treatment planning. However, despite progress, robust algorithms for PET and multimodal image segmentation are still lacking, especially if the algorithm were extended to image-guided and adaptive radiotherapy (IGART). This work presents a novel multimodality segmentation algorithm using the Jensen-Rényi divergence (JRD) to evolve the geometric level set contour. The algorithm offers improved noise tolerance which is particularly applicable to segmentation of regions found in PET and cone-beam computed tomography. Methods: A steepest gradient ascent optimization method is used in conjunction with the JRD and a level set active contour to iteratively evolve a contour to partition an image based on statistical divergence of the intensity histograms. The algorithm is evaluated using PET scans of pharyngolaryngeal squamous cell carcinoma with the corresponding histological reference. The multimodality extension of the algorithm is evaluated using 22 PET/CT scans of patients with lung carcinoma and a physical phantom scanned under varying image quality conditions. Results: The average concordance index (CI) of the JRD segmentation of the PET images was 0.56 with an average classification error of 65%. The segmentation of the lung carcinoma images had a maximum diameter relative error of 63%, 19.5%, and 14.8% when using CT, PET, and combined PET/CT images, respectively. The estimated maximal diameters of the gross tumor volume (GTV) showed a high correlation with the macroscopically determined maximal diameters, with aR{sup 2} value of 0.85 and 0.88 using the PET and PET/CT images, respectively. Results from the physical phantom show that the JRD is more robust to image noise compared to mutual information and region growing. Conclusions: The JRD has shown improved noise tolerance compared to mutual information for the purpose of PET image segmentation. Presented is a flexible framework for multimodal image segmentation that can incorporate a large number of inputs efficiently for IGART.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Validating and improving CT ventilation imaging by correlating with ventilation 4D-PET/CT using {sup 68}Ga-labeled nanoparticles

Purpose: CT ventilation imaging is a novel functional lung imaging modality based on deformable image registration. The authors present the first validation study of CT ventilation using positron emission tomography with{sup 68}Ga-labeled nanoparticles (PET-Galligas). The authors quantify this agreement for different CT ventilation metrics and PET reconstruction parameters. Methods: PET-Galligas ventilation scans were acquired for 12 lung cancer patients using a four-dimensional (4D) PET/CT scanner. CT ventilation images were then produced by applying B-spline deformable image registration between the respiratory correlated phases of the 4D-CT. The authors test four ventilation metrics, two existing and two modified. The two existing metrics model mechanical ventilation (alveolar air-flow) based on Hounsfield unit (HU) change (V{sub HU}) or Jacobian determinant of deformation (V{sub Jac}). The two modified metrics incorporate a voxel-wise tissue-density scaling (ρV{sub HU} and ρV{sub Jac}) and were hypothesized to better model the physiological ventilation. In order to assess the impact of PET image quality, comparisons were performed using both standard and respiratory-gated PET images with the former exhibiting better signal. Different median filtering kernels (σ{sub m} = 0 or 3 mm) were also applied to all images. As in previous studies, similarity metrics included the Spearman correlation coefficient r within the segmented lung volumes, and Dice coefficient d{sub 20} for the (0 − 20)th functional percentile volumes. Results: The best agreement between CT and PET ventilation was obtained comparing standard PET images to the density-scaled HU metric (ρV{sub HU}) with σ{sub m} = 3 mm. This leads to correlation values in the ranges 0.22 ⩽ r ⩽ 0.76 and 0.38 ⩽ d{sub 20} ⩽ 0.68, with r{sup ¯}=0.42±0.16 and d{sup ¯}{sub 20}=0.52±0.09 averaged over the 12 patients. Compared to Jacobian-based metrics, HU-based metrics lead to statistically significant improvements in r{sup ¯} and d{sup ¯}{sub 20} (p < 0.05), with density scaled metrics also showing higher r{sup ¯} than for unscaled versions (p < 0.02). r{sup ¯} and d{sup ¯}{sub 20} were also sensitive to image quality, with statistically significant improvements using standard (as opposed to gated) PET images and with application of median filtering. Conclusions: The use of modified CT ventilation metrics, in conjunction with PET-Galligas and careful application of image filtering has resulted in improved correlation compared to earlier studies using nuclear medicine ventilation. However, CT ventilation and PET-Galligas do not always provide the same functional information. The authors have demonstrated that the agreement can improve for CT ventilation metrics incorporating a tissue density scaling, and also with increasing PET image quality. CT ventilation imaging has clear potential for imaging regional air volume change in the lung, and further development is warranted.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

SU-E-T-279: Dose Enhancement Effect Due to Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Employed as Radiation Protectants

Purpose: The goal of radiotherapy is to maximize radiation dose to diseased cells while minimizing radiation damage to normal tissues. In order to minimize damage to normal tissues, cerium oxide nanoparticles (nanoceria) are currently considered as a radioprotectant. However, some studies have reported concerns that nanoceria can also lead to radiotherapy dose enhancement due to the high atomic number of cerium, especially when used in conjunction with kV energy and brachytherapy sources. In this study, this concern is investigated to determine if the concentrations of nanoceria employed in in-vivo studies to confer radioprotection can engender a significant dose enhancement. Methods: Radiation with energies ranging from 50kVp to 140kVp is investigated in this work along with brachytherapy sources Pd-103 and I-125. A previously established theoretical model is used to calculate the dose enhancement factor (DEF). In this model, each cell is assumed to be a voxel of size (10 µm, 10 µm, 10 µm) with nanoceria homogeneously distributed among them. Electron energy loss formula of Cole is used to calculate energy (and hence dose) deposited by photoelectrons and Auger electrons in each tissue voxel due to irradiation of nanoceria. The DEF is defined as the ratio of the dose with and without nanoparticles. Results: DEF calculation results are smaller than 1.02 with dosages of nanoceria smaller than 0.645 mg/g, which is shown to be sufficiently protective by some previous in-vitro and in-vivo experiments. The brachytherapy sources show higher DEF’s than kVp radiations. DEF peaks are consistent with K shell and L shell energies of cerium, 40 keV and 6 keV, respectively. Conclusion: The results show that for sufficiently radioprotective concentrations of nanoceria, there will be minimal DEF when used in conjunction with clinically applicable kV energy radiotherapy sources or brachytherapy sources.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-H-206-00: Advances in Preclinical Imaging

Lihong V. Wang: Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), combining non-ionizing optical and ultrasonic waves via the photoacoustic effect, provides in vivo multiscale functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging. Broad applications include imaging of the breast, brain, skin, esophagus, colon, vascular system, and lymphatic system in humans or animals. Light offers rich contrast but does not penetrate biological tissue in straight paths as x-rays do. Consequently, high-resolution pure optical imaging (e.g., confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography) is limited to penetration within the optical diffusion limit (∼1 mm in the skin). Ultrasonic imaging, on the contrary, provides fine spatial resolution but suffers from both poor contrast in early-stage tumors and strong speckle artifacts. In PAT, pulsed laser light penetrates tissue and generates a small but rapid temperature rise, which induces emission of ultrasonic waves due to thermoelastic expansion. The ultrasonic waves, orders of magnitude less scattering than optical waves, are then detected to form high-resolution images of optical absorption at depths up to 7 cm, conquering the optical diffusion limit. PAT is the only modality capable of imaging across the length scales of organelles, cells, tissues, and organs (up to whole-body small animals) with consistent contrast. This rapidly growing technology promises to enable multiscale biological research and accelerate translation from microscopic laboratory discoveries to macroscopic clinical practice. PAT may also hold the key to label-free early detection of cancer by in vivo quantification of hypermetabolism, the quintessential hallmark of malignancy. Learning Objectives: To understand the contrast mechanism of PAT To understand the multiscale applications of PAT Benjamin M. W. Tsui: Multi-modality molecular imaging instrumentation and techniques have been major developments in small animal imaging that has contributed significantly to biomedical research during the past decade. The initial development was an extension of clinical PET/CT and SPECT/CT from human to small animals and combine the unique functional information obtained from PET and SPECT with anatomical information provided by the CT in registered multi-modality images. The requirements to image a mouse whose size is an order of magnitude smaller than that of a human have spurred advances in new radiation detector technologies, novel imaging system designs and special image reconstruction and processing techniques. Examples are new detector materials and designs with high intrinsic resolution, multi-pinhole (MPH) collimator design for much improved resolution and detection efficiency compared to the conventional collimator designs in SPECT, 3D high-resolution and artifact-free MPH and sparse-view image reconstruction techniques, and iterative image reconstruction methods with system response modeling for resolution recovery and image noise reduction for much improved image quality. The spatial resolution of PET and SPECT has improved from ∼6–12 mm to ∼1 mm a few years ago to sub-millimeter today. A recent commercial small animal SPECT system has achieved a resolution of ∼0.25 mm which surpasses that of a state-of-art PET system whose resolution is limited by the positron range. More recently, multimodality SA PET/MRI and SPECT/MRI systems have been developed in research laboratories. Also, multi-modality SA imaging systems that include other imaging modalities such as optical and ultrasound are being actively pursued. In this presentation, we will provide a review of the development, recent advances and future outlook of multi-modality molecular imaging of small animals. Learning Objectives: To learn about the two major multi-modality molecular imaging techniques of small animals. To learn about the spatial resolution achievable by the molecular imaging systems for small animal today. To learn about the new multi-modality imaging instrumentation and techniques that are being developed. Sang Hyun Cho; X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging, such as x-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT), offers unique capabilities for accurate identification and quantification of metals within the imaging objects. As a result, it has emerged as a promising quantitative imaging modality in recent years, especially in conjunction with metal-based imaging probes. This talk will familiarize the audience with the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging. It will also cover the latest development of benchtop XFCT technology. Additionally, the use of metallic nanoparticles such as gold nanoparticles, in conjunction with benchtop XFCT, will be discussed within the context of preclinical multimodal multiplexed molecular imaging. Learning Objectives: To learn the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging To learn the latest advances in benchtop XFCT development for preclinical imaging Funding support received from NIH and DOD; Funding support received from GE Healthcare; Funding support received from Siemens AX; Patent royalties received from GE Healthcare; L. Wang, Funding Support: NIH; COI: Microphotoacoustics; S. Cho, Yes: ;NIH/NCI grant R01CA155446 DOD/PCRP grant W81XWH-12-1-0198.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-H-206-01: Photoacoustic Tomography: Multiscale Imaging From Organelles to Patients by Ultrasonically Beating the Optical Diffusion Limit

Lihong V. Wang: Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), combining non-ionizing optical and ultrasonic waves via the photoacoustic effect, provides in vivo multiscale functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging. Broad applications include imaging of the breast, brain, skin, esophagus, colon, vascular system, and lymphatic system in humans or animals. Light offers rich contrast but does not penetrate biological tissue in straight paths as x-rays do. Consequently, high-resolution pure optical imaging (e.g., confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography) is limited to penetration within the optical diffusion limit (∼1 mm in the skin). Ultrasonic imaging, on the contrary, provides fine spatial resolution but suffers from both poor contrast in early-stage tumors and strong speckle artifacts. In PAT, pulsed laser light penetrates tissue and generates a small but rapid temperature rise, which induces emission of ultrasonic waves due to thermoelastic expansion. The ultrasonic waves, orders of magnitude less scattering than optical waves, are then detected to form high-resolution images of optical absorption at depths up to 7 cm, conquering the optical diffusion limit. PAT is the only modality capable of imaging across the length scales of organelles, cells, tissues, and organs (up to whole-body small animals) with consistent contrast. This rapidly growing technology promises to enable multiscale biological research and accelerate translation from microscopic laboratory discoveries to macroscopic clinical practice. PAT may also hold the key to label-free early detection of cancer by in vivo quantification of hypermetabolism, the quintessential hallmark of malignancy. Learning Objectives: To understand the contrast mechanism of PAT To understand the multiscale applications of PAT Benjamin M. W. Tsui: Multi-modality molecular imaging instrumentation and techniques have been major developments in small animal imaging that has contributed significantly to biomedical research during the past decade. The initial development was an extension of clinical PET/CT and SPECT/CT from human to small animals and combine the unique functional information obtained from PET and SPECT with anatomical information provided by the CT in registered multi-modality images. The requirements to image a mouse whose size is an order of magnitude smaller than that of a human have spurred advances in new radiation detector technologies, novel imaging system designs and special image reconstruction and processing techniques. Examples are new detector materials and designs with high intrinsic resolution, multi-pinhole (MPH) collimator design for much improved resolution and detection efficiency compared to the conventional collimator designs in SPECT, 3D high-resolution and artifact-free MPH and sparse-view image reconstruction techniques, and iterative image reconstruction methods with system response modeling for resolution recovery and image noise reduction for much improved image quality. The spatial resolution of PET and SPECT has improved from ∼6–12 mm to ∼1 mm a few years ago to sub-millimeter today. A recent commercial small animal SPECT system has achieved a resolution of ∼0.25 mm which surpasses that of a state-of-art PET system whose resolution is limited by the positron range. More recently, multimodality SA PET/MRI and SPECT/MRI systems have been developed in research laboratories. Also, multi-modality SA imaging systems that include other imaging modalities such as optical and ultrasound are being actively pursued. In this presentation, we will provide a review of the development, recent advances and future outlook of multi-modality molecular imaging of small animals. Learning Objectives: To learn about the two major multi-modality molecular imaging techniques of small animals. To learn about the spatial resolution achievable by the molecular imaging systems for small animal today. To learn about the new multi-modality imaging instrumentation and techniques that are being developed. Sang Hyun Cho; X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging, such as x-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT), offers unique capabilities for accurate identification and quantification of metals within the imaging objects. As a result, it has emerged as a promising quantitative imaging modality in recent years, especially in conjunction with metal-based imaging probes. This talk will familiarize the audience with the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging. It will also cover the latest development of benchtop XFCT technology. Additionally, the use of metallic nanoparticles such as gold nanoparticles, in conjunction with benchtop XFCT, will be discussed within the context of preclinical multimodal multiplexed molecular imaging. Learning Objectives: To learn the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging To learn the latest advances in benchtop XFCT development for preclinical imaging Funding support received from NIH and DOD; Funding support received from GE Healthcare; Funding support received from Siemens AX; Patent royalties received from GE Healthcare; L. Wang, Funding Support: NIH; COI: Microphotoacoustics; S. Cho, Yes: ;NIH/NCI grant R01CA155446 DOD/PCRP grant W81XWH-12-1-0198.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-H-206-02: Recent Advances in Multi-Modality Molecular Imaging of Small Animals

Lihong V. Wang: Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), combining non-ionizing optical and ultrasonic waves via the photoacoustic effect, provides in vivo multiscale functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging. Broad applications include imaging of the breast, brain, skin, esophagus, colon, vascular system, and lymphatic system in humans or animals. Light offers rich contrast but does not penetrate biological tissue in straight paths as x-rays do. Consequently, high-resolution pure optical imaging (e.g., confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography) is limited to penetration within the optical diffusion limit (∼1 mm in the skin). Ultrasonic imaging, on the contrary, provides fine spatial resolution but suffers from both poor contrast in early-stage tumors and strong speckle artifacts. In PAT, pulsed laser light penetrates tissue and generates a small but rapid temperature rise, which induces emission of ultrasonic waves due to thermoelastic expansion. The ultrasonic waves, orders of magnitude less scattering than optical waves, are then detected to form high-resolution images of optical absorption at depths up to 7 cm, conquering the optical diffusion limit. PAT is the only modality capable of imaging across the length scales of organelles, cells, tissues, and organs (up to whole-body small animals) with consistent contrast. This rapidly growing technology promises to enable multiscale biological research and accelerate translation from microscopic laboratory discoveries to macroscopic clinical practice. PAT may also hold the key to label-free early detection of cancer by in vivo quantification of hypermetabolism, the quintessential hallmark of malignancy. Learning Objectives: To understand the contrast mechanism of PAT To understand the multiscale applications of PAT Benjamin M. W. Tsui: Multi-modality molecular imaging instrumentation and techniques have been major developments in small animal imaging that has contributed significantly to biomedical research during the past decade. The initial development was an extension of clinical PET/CT and SPECT/CT from human to small animals and combine the unique functional information obtained from PET and SPECT with anatomical information provided by the CT in registered multi-modality images. The requirements to image a mouse whose size is an order of magnitude smaller than that of a human have spurred advances in new radiation detector technologies, novel imaging system designs and special image reconstruction and processing techniques. Examples are new detector materials and designs with high intrinsic resolution, multi-pinhole (MPH) collimator design for much improved resolution and detection efficiency compared to the conventional collimator designs in SPECT, 3D high-resolution and artifact-free MPH and sparse-view image reconstruction techniques, and iterative image reconstruction methods with system response modeling for resolution recovery and image noise reduction for much improved image quality. The spatial resolution of PET and SPECT has improved from ∼6–12 mm to ∼1 mm a few years ago to sub-millimeter today. A recent commercial small animal SPECT system has achieved a resolution of ∼0.25 mm which surpasses that of a state-of-art PET system whose resolution is limited by the positron range. More recently, multimodality SA PET/MRI and SPECT/MRI systems have been developed in research laboratories. Also, multi-modality SA imaging systems that include other imaging modalities such as optical and ultrasound are being actively pursued. In this presentation, we will provide a review of the development, recent advances and future outlook of multi-modality molecular imaging of small animals. Learning Objectives: To learn about the two major multi-modality molecular imaging techniques of small animals. To learn about the spatial resolution achievable by the molecular imaging systems for small animal today. To learn about the new multi-modality imaging instrumentation and techniques that are being developed. Sang Hyun Cho; X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging, such as x-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT), offers unique capabilities for accurate identification and quantification of metals within the imaging objects. As a result, it has emerged as a promising quantitative imaging modality in recent years, especially in conjunction with metal-based imaging probes. This talk will familiarize the audience with the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging. It will also cover the latest development of benchtop XFCT technology. Additionally, the use of metallic nanoparticles such as gold nanoparticles, in conjunction with benchtop XFCT, will be discussed within the context of preclinical multimodal multiplexed molecular imaging. Learning Objectives: To learn the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging To learn the latest advances in benchtop XFCT development for preclinical imaging Funding support received from NIH and DOD; Funding support received from GE Healthcare; Funding support received from Siemens AX; Patent royalties received from GE Healthcare; L. Wang, Funding Support: NIH; COI: Microphotoacoustics; S. Cho, Yes: ;NIH/NCI grant R01CA155446 DOD/PCRP grant W81XWH-12-1-0198.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-H-206-03: Promises and Challenges of Benchtop X-Ray Fluorescence CT (XFCT) for Quantitative in Vivo Imaging

Lihong V. Wang: Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), combining non-ionizing optical and ultrasonic waves via the photoacoustic effect, provides in vivo multiscale functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging. Broad applications include imaging of the breast, brain, skin, esophagus, colon, vascular system, and lymphatic system in humans or animals. Light offers rich contrast but does not penetrate biological tissue in straight paths as x-rays do. Consequently, high-resolution pure optical imaging (e.g., confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography) is limited to penetration within the optical diffusion limit (∼1 mm in the skin). Ultrasonic imaging, on the contrary, provides fine spatial resolution but suffers from both poor contrast in early-stage tumors and strong speckle artifacts. In PAT, pulsed laser light penetrates tissue and generates a small but rapid temperature rise, which induces emission of ultrasonic waves due to thermoelastic expansion. The ultrasonic waves, orders of magnitude less scattering than optical waves, are then detected to form high-resolution images of optical absorption at depths up to 7 cm, conquering the optical diffusion limit. PAT is the only modality capable of imaging across the length scales of organelles, cells, tissues, and organs (up to whole-body small animals) with consistent contrast. This rapidly growing technology promises to enable multiscale biological research and accelerate translation from microscopic laboratory discoveries to macroscopic clinical practice. PAT may also hold the key to label-free early detection of cancer by in vivo quantification of hypermetabolism, the quintessential hallmark of malignancy. Learning Objectives: To understand the contrast mechanism of PAT To understand the multiscale applications of PAT Benjamin M. W. Tsui: Multi-modality molecular imaging instrumentation and techniques have been major developments in small animal imaging that has contributed significantly to biomedical research during the past decade. The initial development was an extension of clinical PET/CT and SPECT/CT from human to small animals and combine the unique functional information obtained from PET and SPECT with anatomical information provided by the CT in registered multi-modality images. The requirements to image a mouse whose size is an order of magnitude smaller than that of a human have spurred advances in new radiation detector technologies, novel imaging system designs and special image reconstruction and processing techniques. Examples are new detector materials and designs with high intrinsic resolution, multi-pinhole (MPH) collimator design for much improved resolution and detection efficiency compared to the conventional collimator designs in SPECT, 3D high-resolution and artifact-free MPH and sparse-view image reconstruction techniques, and iterative image reconstruction methods with system response modeling for resolution recovery and image noise reduction for much improved image quality. The spatial resolution of PET and SPECT has improved from ∼6–12 mm to ∼1 mm a few years ago to sub-millimeter today. A recent commercial small animal SPECT system has achieved a resolution of ∼0.25 mm which surpasses that of a state-of-art PET system whose resolution is limited by the positron range. More recently, multimodality SA PET/MRI and SPECT/MRI systems have been developed in research laboratories. Also, multi-modality SA imaging systems that include other imaging modalities such as optical and ultrasound are being actively pursued. In this presentation, we will provide a review of the development, recent advances and future outlook of multi-modality molecular imaging of small animals. Learning Objectives: To learn about the two major multi-modality molecular imaging techniques of small animals. To learn about the spatial resolution achievable by the molecular imaging systems for small animal today. To learn about the new multi-modality imaging instrumentation and techniques that are being developed. Sang Hyun Cho; X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging, such as x-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT), offers unique capabilities for accurate identification and quantification of metals within the imaging objects. As a result, it has emerged as a promising quantitative imaging modality in recent years, especially in conjunction with metal-based imaging probes. This talk will familiarize the audience with the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging. It will also cover the latest development of benchtop XFCT technology. Additionally, the use of metallic nanoparticles such as gold nanoparticles, in conjunction with benchtop XFCT, will be discussed within the context of preclinical multimodal multiplexed molecular imaging. Learning Objectives: To learn the basic principles of XRF/XFCT imaging To learn the latest advances in benchtop XFCT development for preclinical imaging Funding support received from NIH and DOD; Funding support received from GE Healthcare; Funding support received from Siemens AX; Patent royalties received from GE Healthcare; L. Wang, Funding Support: NIH; COI: Microphotoacoustics; S. Cho, Yes: ;NIH/NCI grant R01CA155446 DOD/PCRP grant W81XWH-12-1-0198.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Technical Report: Evaluation of peripheral dose for flattening filter free photon beams

Purpose: To develop a comprehensive peripheral dose (PD) dataset for the two unflattened beams of nominal energy 6 and 10 MV for use in clinical care. Methods: Measurements were made in a 40 × 120 × 20 cm{sup 3} (width × length × depth) stack of solid water using an ionization chamber at varying depths (dmax, 5, and 10 cm), field sizes (3 × 3 to 30 × 30 cm{sup 2}), and distances from the field edge (5–40 cm). The effects of the multileaf collimator (MLC) and collimator rotation were also evaluated for a 10 × 10 cm{sup 2} field. Using the same phantom geometry, the accuracy of the analytic anisotropic algorithm (AAA) and Acuros dose calculation algorithm was assessed and compared to the measured values. Results: The PDs for both the 6 flattening filter free (FFF) and 10 FFF photon beams were found to decrease with increasing distance from the radiation field edge and the decreasing field size. The measured PD was observed to be higher for the 6 FFF than for the 10 FFF for all field sizes and depths. The impact of collimator rotation was not found to be clinically significant when used in conjunction with MLCs. AAA and Acuros algorithms both underestimated the PD with average errors of −13.6% and −7.8%, respectively, for all field sizes and depths at distances of 5 and 10 cm from the field edge, but the average error was found to increase to nearly −69% at greater distances. Conclusions: Given the known inaccuracies of peripheral dose calculations, this comprehensive dataset can be used to estimate the out-of-field dose to regions of interest such as organs at risk, electronic implantable devices, and a fetus. While the impact of collimator rotation was not found to significantly decrease PD when used in conjunction with MLCs, results are expected to be machine model and beam energy dependent. It is not recommended to use a treatment planning system to estimate PD due to the underestimation of the out-of-field dose and the inability to calculate dose at extended distances due to the limits of the dose calculation matrix.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Electrodes with Atomically Dispersed (AD) Fe-C-N ORR Catalyst

Activity of (AD)Fe-N-C catalyst with low Fe content is investigated in differential cells prepared by hot pressing anode gas diffusion electrodes (0.2 mgPt/cm2) to N211 membrane and brush painting the cathode catalyst ink. Polarization curves obtained in H2/O2 show double Tafel slopes which, in conjunction with the redox potential observed in cyclic voltammetry traces, forms the basis for a distributed ORR (oxygen reduction reaction) kinetic model with potential-dependent available sites. Application of this model to polarization data in H2/air provides the basis for formulating an oxygen transport model and leads to 7.7 ± 0.6 mA/cm2 catalyst activity at 0.9 V, 31.5-34.3 mA/cm2 cell performance at 0.8 V, and 0.8-2 s/cm O2 transport resistance. A coupled kinetic, O2 transport and proton transport illustrates the projected improvements needed in catalyst activity and electrode structure to approach the automotive target of 1000 mW/cm2 stack power density while meeting the 1.45 kW/oC heat rejection constraint at 1.5 cathode stoichiometry. The model indicates that we need twelve-fold higher mass activity for reducing the kinetic losses, doubling of active site density and an engineered electrode structure for 50% lower proton transport resistance, as well as a 50% reduction in electrode thickness to limit the O2 transport losses

ACTIVE-SITES↗

Real-Time Highly Resolved Spatial-Temporal Vehicle Energy Consumption Estimation Using Machine Learning and Probe Data

Real-time highly resolved spatial-temporal vehicle energy consumption is a key missing dimension in transportation data. Most roadway link-level vehicle energy consumption data are estimated using average annual daily traffic measures derived from the Highway Performance Monitoring System; however, this method does not reflect day-to-day energy consumption fluctuations. As transportation planners and operators are becoming more environmentally attentive, they need accurate real-time link-level vehicle energy consumption data to assess energy and emissions; to incentivize energy-efficient routing; and to estimate energy impact caused by congestion, major events, and severe weather. This paper presents a computational workflow to automate the estimation of time-resolved vehicle energy consumption for each link in a road network of interest using vehicle probe speed and count data in conjunction with machine learning methods in real time. The real-time pipeline can deliver energy estimates within a couple seconds on query to its interface. The proposed method was evaluated on the transportation network of the metropolitan area of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The volume estimation results were validated with ground truth traffic volume data collected in the field. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the energy consumption pipeline was applied to real-world data to quantify road transportation-related energy reduction because of mitigation policies to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to measure energy loss resulting from congestion.

Severino, Joseph↗

Gold nanoparticles as high-resolution X-ray imaging contrast agents for the analysis of tumor-related micro-vasculature

Angiogenesis is widely investigated in conjunction with cancer development, in particular because of the possibility of early stage detection and of new therapeutic strategies. However, such studies are negatively affected by the limitations of imaging techniques in the detection of microscopic blood vessels (diameter 3-5 {micro}m) grown under angiogenic stress. We report that synchrotron-based X-ray imaging techniques with very high spatial resolution can overcome this obstacle, provided that suitable contrast agents are used. We tested different contrast agents based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the detection of cancer-related angiogenesis by synchrotron microradiology, microtomography and high resolution X-ray microscopy. Among them only bare-AuNPs in conjunction with heparin injection provided sufficient contrast to allow in vivo detection of small capillary species (the smallest measured lumen diameters were 3-5 {micro}m). The detected vessel density was 3-7 times higher than with other nanoparticles. We also found that bare-AuNPs with heparin allows detecting symptoms of local extravascular nanoparticle diffusion in tumor areas where capillary leakage appeared. Although high-Z AuNPs are natural candidates as radiology contrast agents, their success is not guaranteed, in particular when targeting very small blood vessels in tumor-related angiography. We found that AuNPs injected with heparin produced the contrast level needed to reveal--for the first time by X-ray imaging--tumor microvessels with 3-5 {micro}m diameter as well as extravascular diffusion due to basal membrane defenestration. These results open the interesting possibility of functional imaging of the tumor microvasculature, of its development and organization, as well as of the effects of anti-angiogenic drugs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

ORNL_AISD-Ex: Quantum chemical prediction of UV/Vis absorption spectra for over 10 million organic molecules

We performed calculations of electronic excitation energies and associated oscillator strengths based on the time-dependent density-functional tight-binding (TD-DFTB) method [1]. The SMILES (Simplified molecular-input line-entry system) strings of the molecules from the AISD HOMO-LUMO database [2] were converted to a 3D atomistic structure and stored in a PDB file after preliminary geometry optimization using the Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF94) in RDKit [3,4]. The primary information stored in the PDB file archive consists of Cartesian coordinates for each atom of the molecule in their 3D location in space, along with summary information about the structure, sequence, and experiment. We then performed molecular geometry optimization using the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method [5] in the electronic ground state, followed by single-point excited states calculations, as described below. We note that, since RDKit employs a random choice for the generation of molecular conformers, the molecular geometries obtained in this dataset could be different from the ones that were generated when the AISD HOMO-LUMO dataset was generated. The computed excitation energies and associated oscillator strengths can be converted to predict UV/Vis absorption spectra, where excitation energies correspond to absorption peak positions, and oscillator strengths are a good measure of the probability of absorption of visible or UV light in transitions between electronic ground and excited states. The conversion of SMILES strings to 3D Cartesian coordinates of fully DFTB-optimized molecules was successful for 10,502,904 out of 10,502,917 molecules. For these molecules, both geometry optimizations and excited states calculations were successful. The DFTB calculations did not complete for 13 molecules of the original AISD HOMO-LUMO dataset. We still provide information about the geometry of these molecules. The molecules are diverse for chemical compositions (which span 5 non-hydrogen elements: oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, sulfur) and molecular size (the smallest molecule contains 5 non-hydrogen atoms, and the largest molecule contains 71 non-hydrogen atoms). The DFTB method [5] is an approximation to density functional theory (DFT), utilizing a minimal basis set in conjunction with a two-center approximation to the electronic Hamiltonian and overlap matrix elements. The DFTB total energy is the sum of an electronic and a repulsive energy contribution, and their calculation requires optimized electronic parameters and diatomic repulsive potential energy functions. All DFTB calculations were performed using the DFTB+ code [6] (version 21.2) and the wrapper for DFTB+ in the Atomic Simulation Environment (ASE) (version 3.22.1) [7], which performed an internal conversion of Cartesian coordinates from PDB to the .gen file format. For the geometry optimizations on the electronic ground state potential energy surface of the molecules, we have chosen the third-order DFTB (DFTB3) method [5c] and employed the matching 3ob set of electronic parameters and repulsive potentials [8]. The empirical γ-damping for hydrogen bond correction, and Grimme's D3 empirical dispersion correction with Becke-Johnson damping (D3(BJ)) [9] dispersion correction was included to improve the description of non-covalent interactions. For excited states single-point energy calculations, we employed the TD-DFTB method in conjunction with the DFTB2 method [5b] and the matching mio [5b,10] and halorg [11] parameter sets. We opted to request the simultaneous calculation of 50 excited states for singlet transition to investigate sufficient number of excited states, based on linear response theory using the Casida equation [Ref: T. A. Niehaus, S. Suhai, F. Della Sala, P Lugli, M. Elstner, G. Seifert, and Th. Frauenheim. Tight-binding approach to time-dependent density-functional response theory. Phys. Rev. B, 63:085108, 2001] and the ARPACK diagonalizer [R. B. Lehoucq, D. C. Sorensen, and C. Yang. Arpack users guide: Solution of large-scale eigenvalue problems by implicitly restarted arnoldi methods, 1997. 46, 51]. The dataset contains 1001 tar.gz files. Tar files are named as “ornl_aisd_ex_1.tar.gz†through “ornl_aisd_ex_1000.tar.gzâ€. Additionally, the 13 failed molecules are in “ornl_aisd_ex_unprocessed.tar.gzâ€. Except for the tar files listed below, each tar file contains 10,500 molecules. Tar files numbered 34, 121, 128, 352, 360, 429, 495, 509, 518, 627, 676, 668, and 862 contain 10,499 molecules each. The last tar file numbered 1000 contains 13,417 molecules. The total size of the uncompressed dataset is over 283 Gigabytes. The code for calculating the electronic excitation energies and statistical analysis of the dataset is provided at the following GitLab repository: https://github.com/ORNL/Analysis-of-Large-Scale-Molecular-Datasets-with-Python Calculating the UV spectrum of a molecule requires performing 3 main operations: 1. Converting the smiles string representation of a molecule into a geometric structure where each atom is assigned XYZ coordinates. The geometric structure is written to the file smiles.pdb. 2. Using smiles.pdb to compute the relaxed geometry of the molecule, which corresponds with the position of the atoms at the position of equilibrium at the ground state. This generates the files band.out, detailed.out, and geo_end.gen. 3. Using geo_end.gen to calculate the UV spectrum of the molecule which is written into the file EXC.DAT. Every molecule in the dataset has its own directory. The files contained in each molecule directory are as follows: 1. geo_end.gen 2. detailed.out 3. band.out 4. EXC.DAT 5. smiles.pdb REFERENCES [1] Niehaus, T. A.; Suhai, S.; Della Salla, F.; Lugli, P.; Elstner, M.; Seifert, G.; Frauenheim, Th. Tight-binding approach to time-dependent density-functional response theory. Phys. Rev. B, 2001, 63, 085108/1-9. [2] Blanchard, A.; Gounley, J.; Metha, K.; Yoo, P.; Irle, S. AISD HOMO-LUMO. DOI: 10.13139/ORNLNCCS/1869409 [3] RDKit: Cheminformatics and Machine Learning Software. 2013, [http://www.rdkit.org] [4] Tosco, P.; Stiefl, N. and Landrum, G. Bringing the MMFF force field to the RDKit: implementation and validation. J Cheminform. 2014, 6, 1–4. [5] a) Porezag, D.; Frauenheim, T.; Kohler, T.; Seifert, G.; Kaschner, Construction of tight-binding-like potentials on the basis of density-functional theory: Application to carbon, R. Phys. Rev. B 1995, 51, 12947-12957; b) Elstner, M.; Porezag, D.; Jungnickel, G.; Elsner, J.; Haugk, M.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S.; Seifert, G.; Phys. Rev. B 1998, 58, 7260-7268; c) Gaus, M.; Cui, Q.; Elstner, M. DFTB3: Extension of the Self-Consistent-Charge Density-Functional Tight-Binding Method (SCC-DFTB), J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2011, 7, 931-948; d) Cui, Q.; Elstner, M. Density functional tight binding: values of semi-empirical methods in an ab initio era, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 14368-14377. [6] Hourahine, B. et al. DFTB+, a software package for efficient approximate density functional theory based atomistic simulations, J. Chem. Phys. 2020, 152, 124101/1-19. [7] Larsen, A. H. et al. The atomic simulation environment—a Python library for working with atoms. J. Phys.: Cond. Matter 2017, 29, 273002. [8] Kubillus, M.; Kubar, T.; Gaus, M.; Rezac, J.; Elstner, M. Parameterization of the DFTB3 Method for Br, Ca, Cl, F, I, K, and Na in Organic and Biological Systems, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2015, 11, 332-342. [9] Brandenburg, J. G.; Grimme, S. Accurate Modeling of Organic Molecular Crystals by Dispersion-Corrected Density Functional Tight Binding (DFTB), J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 1785−1789. [10] a) Niehaus, T. A.; Elstner, M.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S. Application of an approximate density-functional method to sulfur containing compounds. J. Mol. Struct.: THEOCHEM 2001, 541, 185-94; b) Elstner, M.; Hobza, P.; Frauenheim, Th.; Suhai, S.; Kaxiras, E. Hydrogen bonding and stacking interactions of nucleic acid base pairs: A density-functional-theory based treatment. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 5149-55. [11] Kubar, T.; Bodrog, Z.; Gaus, M.; Köhler, C.; Aradi, B.; Frauenheim, Th.; Elstner, M. Parametrization of the SCC-DFTB Method for Halogens. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 2939-49.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Pressure-induced velocity softening in natural orthopyroxene at mantle temperature

In this study, we have measured the compressional and shear wave velocities of (Mg 1.77 Fe 0.22 Ca 0.01 )Si 2 O 6 natural orthopyroxene up to 13.5 GPa and 873 K using ultrasonic interferometry in conjunction with in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and imaging techniques. Previous acoustic experiments on orthoenstatite (OEn) MgSiO 3 indicated that both compressional and shear velocities (V P and V S ) of OEn undergo continuous velocity softening above 9 GPa at room temperature, which has been attributed to the phase transition from OEn to the metastable, high-pressure clinoenstatite HPCEn2. For the first time, our results suggest that pressure-induced velocity softening can occur in natural orthopyroxene at high-temperature conditions relevant to the Earth's cold subduction zones. As a result, estimates of the impedance and velocity contrasts between orthopyroxene (Opx) and high-pressure clinopyroxene (HPCpx) have been calculated, and the possibility of this phase transformation being a plausible candidate for seismic X-discontinuities at depth around 250–350 km is re-evaluated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-pressure and high-temperature equation of state of cobalt oxide: Implications for redox relations in Earth's mantle

The high-pressure and high-temperature equation of state of rock salt-structured cobalt oxide was measured up to 65 GPa and 2600 K using synchrotron X-ray diffraction in conjunction with the laser heated diamond-anvil cell. Fitting a Mie-Grüneisen-Debye model to the data we find best-fit parameters V 0 = 77.4 (fixed) Å 3 , K 0 = 190 (1) GPa, K' = 3.49 (4), γ 0 = 1.54 (4), q = 2.87 (15), and θ 0 = 517.8 K (fixed). We use this newly determined equation of state in conjunction with existing measurements of the thermoelastic parameters of cobalt metal to calculate the Gibbs free-energy difference between the cobalt oxide and cobalt metal phases as a function of pressure and temperature. A comparison of the energetics of the Co/CoO system with the Ni/NiO system predicts that below 58 GPa CoO+Ni is stable relative to NiO+Co, while above 58 GPa the reverse is true. This tipping point in energy can be mapped as a crossing point in the electrochemical potential of the two metal ions, suggesting that cobalt becomes more siderophile than nickel with increasing pressure. This result is in qualitative agreement with existing measurements of nickel and cobalt partition coefficients between mantle and core materials.

Armentrout, Matthew M.↗

Analysis of Drought Impacts on Electricity Production in the Western and Texas Interconnections of the United States

Electricity generation relies heavily on water resources and their availability. To examine the interdependence of energy and water in the electricity context, the impacts of a severe drought to assess the risk posed by drought to electricity generation within the western and Texas interconnections has been examined. The historical drought patterns in the western United States were analyzed, and the risk posed by drought to electricity generation within the region was evaluated. The results of this effort will be used to develop scenarios for medium- and long-term transmission modeling and planning efforts by the Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The study was performed in response to a request developed by the Western Governors Association in conjunction with the transmission modeling teams at the participating interconnections. It is part of a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored, national laboratory-led research effort to develop tools related to the interdependency of energy and water as part of a larger interconnection-wide transmission planning project funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This study accomplished three main objectives. It provided a thorough literature review of recent studies of drought and the potential implications for electricity generation. It analyzed historical drought patterns in the western United States and used the results to develop three design drought scenarios. Finally, it quantified the risk to electricity generation for each of eight basins for each of the three drought scenarios and considered the implications for transmission planning. Literature on drought impacts on electricity generation describes a number of examples where hydroelectric generation capacity has been limited because of drought but only a few examples of impact on thermoelectric generation. In all documented cases, shortfalls of generation were met by purchasing power from the market, albeit at higher prices. However, sufficient excess generation and transmission must be available for this strategy to work. Although power purchase was the most commonly discussed drought mitigation strategy, a total of 12 response strategies were identified in the literature, falling into four main categories: electricity supply, electricity demand response, alternative water supplies, and water demand response. Three hydrological drought scenarios were developed based on a literature review and historical data analysis. The literature review helped to identify key drought parameters and data on drought frequency and severity. Historical hydrological drought data were analyzed for the western United States to identify potential drought correlations and estimate drought parameters. The first scenario was a West-wide drought occurring in 1977; it represented a severe drought in five of the eight basins in the study area. A second drought scenario was artificially defined by selecting the conditions from the 10th-percentile drought year for each individual basin; this drought was defined in this way to allow more consistent analysis of risk to electricity generation in each basin. The final scenario was based upon the current low-flow hydro modeling scenario defined by WECC, which uses conditions from the year 2001. These scenarios were then used to quantify the risk to electricity generation in each basin. The risk calculations represent a first-order estimate of the maximum amount of electricity generation that might be lost from both hydroelectric and thermoelectric sources under a worst-case scenario. Even with the conservative methodology used, the majority of basins showed a limited amount of risk under most scenarios. The level of risk in these basins is likely to be amenable to mitigation by known strategies, combined with existing reserve generation and transmission capacity. However, the risks to the Pacific Northwest and Texas Basins require further study. The Pacific Northwest is vulnerable because of its heavy reliance on hydroelectric generation. Texas, conversely, is vulnerable because of its heavy dependence on thermoelectric generation, which relies on surface water for cooling, along with the fact that this basin seems to experience more severe drought events on average. Further modeling analysis will be performed in conjunction with the modeling teams at the participating interconnections (WECC and ERCOT) to explore the transmission implications of the drought scenarios in more detail. Given the first-order nature of this analysis, more detailed study of the potential impacts of drought on electricity generation is recommended. Future analyses should attempt to model the potential impacts of drought at the power-plant level, including potential mitigation strategies; include the effects of drought duration; understand the impacts of climate change; and consider economic impacts.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗