  Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) allows examining structure
of materials in nano and sub-nanometer scale. This technique is based on the
lifetime and intensity of ortho-positronium atoms in free volumes of given
structures. It is mostly used for studies in material sciences, but it can also
be used for in vivo imaging of the cell morphology as proposed in [1], [2].
Cancer cells are characterized by an altered macro structure in comparison to
normal cells, thus the main objective of these studies is to compare if these
differences can be detected on sub-nanometer level and therefore allows to
distinguish between normal and cancer cells with application of PALS technique.
This perspective will allow for simultaneous determination of early and
advanced stages of carcinogenesis, by observing changes in biomechanical
parameters between normal and tumour cells, and standard PET examination. Such
simultaneous PET imaging and PALS investigations can be performed with the
Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomograph (J-PET) which is a multi-purpose
detector used for investigations with positronium atoms in life-sciences as
well as for development of medical diagnostics.
