The recent introduction of high-resolution molecular imaging technology is considered by many experts as a major breakthrough that will potentially lead to a revolutionary paradigm shift in health care and revolutionize clinical practice. This paper intends to balance the capabilities of the two major molecular imaging modalities used in nuclear medicine, namely positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The motivations are many-fold: (1) to gain a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of the two imaging modalities in the context of recent and ongoing developments in hardware and software design; (2) to emphasize that certain issues, historically and commonly thought as limitations of one technology, may now instead be viewed as challenges that can be addressed; (3) to point out that current state of the art PET and SPECT scanners can (greatly) benefit from improvements in innovative image reconstruction algorithms; and (4) to identify important areas of research in PET and SPECT imaging that will be instrumental to further improvements in the two modalities. Both technologies are poised to advance molecular imaging and have a direct impact on clinical and research practice to influence the future of molecular medicine.

PET versus SPECT: strengths, limitations and challenges

A new method is proposed to subtract the count of scattered photons from that acquired with a photopeak window at each pixel in each planar image of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The subtraction is carried out using two sets of data: one set is acquired with a main window centered at photopeak energy and the other is acquired with two subwindows on both sides of the main window. The scattered photons included in the main window are estimated from the counts acquired with the subwindows and then they are subtracted from the count acquired with the main windows. Since the subtraction is performed at each pixel in each planar image, the proposed method has the potential to be more precise than conventional methods. For three different activity distributions in cylinder phantoms, simulation tests gave good agreement between the activity distributions reconstructed from unscattered photons and those from the corrected data. >

A practical method for position-dependent Compton-scatter correction in single photon emission CT

This paper examines the spatial resolution properties of penalized-likelihood image reconstruction methods by analyzing the local impulse response. The analysis shows that standard regularization penalties induce space-variant local impulse response functions, even for space-invariant tomographic systems. Paradoxically, for emission image reconstruction, the local resolution is generally poorest in high-count regions. We show that the linearized local impulse response induced by quadratic roughness penalties depends on the object only through its projections. This analysis leads naturally to a modified regularization penalty that yields reconstructed images with nearly uniform resolution. The modified penalty also provides a very practical method for choosing the regularization parameter to obtain a specified resolution in images reconstructed by penalized-likelihood methods.

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Spatial resolution properties of penalized-likelihood image reconstruction: space-invariant tomographs

Reduced brain serotonin transporter availability in major depression as measured by [123I]-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)tropane and single photon emission computed tomography

This report describes recommended techniques for radiopharmaceutical biodistribution data acquisition and analysis in human subjects to estimate radiation absorbed dose using the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) schema. The document has been prepared in a format to address two audiences: individuals with a primary interest in designing clinical trials who are not experts in dosimetry and individuals with extensive experience with dosimetry-based protocols and calculational methodology. For the first group, the general concepts involved in biodistribution data acquisition are presented, with guidance provided for the number of measurements (data points) required. For those with expertise in dosimetry, highlighted sections, examples and appendices have been included to provide calculational details, as well as references, for the techniques involved. This document is intended also to serve as a guide for the investigator in choosing the appropriate methodologies when acquiring and preparing product data for review by national regulatory agencies. The emphasis is on planar imaging techniques commonly available in most nuclear medicine departments and laboratories. The measurement of the biodistribution of radiopharmaceuticals is an important aspect in calculating absorbed dose from internally deposited radionuclides. Three phases are presented: data collection, data analysis and data processing. In the first phase, data collection, the identification of source regions, the determination of their appropriate temporal sampling and the acquisition of data are discussed. In the second phase, quantitative measurement techniques involving imaging by planar scintillation camera, SPECT and PET for the calculation of activity in source regions as a function of time are discussed. In addition, nonimaging measurement techniques, including external radiation monitoring, tissue-sample counting (blood and biopsy) and excreta counting are also considered. The third phase, data processing, involves curve-fitting techniques to integrate the source time-activity curves (determining the area under these curves). For some applications, compartmental modeling procedures may be used. Last, appendices are included that provide a table of symbols and definitions, a checklist for study protocol design, example formats for quantitative imaging protocols, temporal sampling error analysis techniques and selected calculational examples. The utilization of the presented approach should aid in the standardization of protocol design for collecting kinetic data and in the calculation of absorbed dose estimates.

https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/jnumed/40/2/37S.full.pdf

MIRD pamphlet no. 16: Techniques for quantitative radiopharmaceutical biodistribution data acquisition and analysis for use in human radiation dose estimates.

The development of algorithms for Radionuclide Computed Tomography (RCT) is complicated by the presence of attenuation of gamma-rays inside the body. Some of the existing RCT reconstruction algorithms apply approximation formulas to the projection data for attenuation correction, while others take attenuation into account through some iterative procedures. The drawbacks of these algorithms are that the approximation formulas commonly used are generally inadequate and the iterative procedures are usually very time-consuming. The method for attenuation correction in RCT, which we propose, applied a simple, effective two-step procedure to the uncorrected image. In this procedure the filtered back-projection algorithm is used for its fast speed. A simple mathematical basis and description of the procedure together with some illustrative computer results are given in this paper.

A Method for Attenuation Correction in Radionuclide Computed Tomography

A whole-body single-photon emission computed tomography system (SPECT) consisting of two large-field-of-view scintillation cameras mounted on a rotatable gantry, a minicomputer and a display station has been designed, constructed and evaluated. In its usual mode of operation, eleven contiguous transverse sections, each 12.5 or 25 mm thick, are reconstructed from projection data acquired during a single, continuous 360 degrees rotation lasting from 2 to 22 min. A generalised filtered and weighted backprojection algorithm is used to reconstruct data obtained with conventional parallel-hole collimators in the case of body scanning, or with specially designed fan beam collimators in the case of centrally positioned organs. A simple yet effective, correction is used to compensate for the effects of gamma ray attenuation within the patient.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0031-9155/24/6/003/pdf

Whole-body single-photon emission computed tomography using dual, large-field-of-view scintillation cameras

Correction for internal ?-ray absorption is an important aspect in single photon emission computed tomography. An algorithm has been developed to compensate for the effect of attenuation of ?-rays within the body. This algorithm consists of two correction steps and assumes a constant attenuation coefficient and a known body contour. The correction steps are applicable for both parallel beam and fan beam geometries. Computer simulations and experimental results have shown that this method provides a simple and effective correction for attenuation. The incomplete projection problem arises in whole body emission CT imaging, especially when fan beam collimators are used. It has been shown that fan beam geometry provides better spatial resolution than parallel beam geometry. For small organs inside the thoracic and abdominal cavities, however, fan beam geometry often produces incomplete projections which are caused by a decreased field of view of gamma cameras equipped with fan beam collimators. Two methods are described to reduce the artifacts generated from reconstruction of incomplete (truncated) projections.

Attenuation Correction and Incomplete Projection in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography

Scintillation camera systems using parallel collimation have been used for single-photon emission computed tomography (SP/ECT). A major problem is the limited resolution of present parallel-hole collimators. We have built and evaluated collimators for a SP/ECT system, consisting of two opposing LFOV scintillation cameras and a gantry, which have parallel collimation along the cranial-caudal axis of the patient and converging collimation in a direction perpendicular to this axis. The collimator converges to a line of focus located 58 cm from the collimator face and parallel to the cranial-caudal axis of the patient. Two converging collimators combined with opposing LFOV cameras are capable of simultaneously imaging 11 contiguous, 2.6 (or 1.3) cm thick, transverse sections from data collected during a single revolution of the cameras about the patient. A fan beam convolution algorithm reconstructs the transverse slices and provides partial compensation for ?-ray attenuation. It is concluded that the fan-beam collimator system, when compared with conventional parallel-hole collimator systems, produces simultaneous improvements in SP/ECT system sensitivity and resolution. This results in improved visualization of small centrally located organs.

Lee-Tzuu Chang

Papers

A Method for Attenuation Correction in Radionuclide Computed Tomography

Whole-body single-photon emission computed tomography using dual, large-field-of-view scintillation cameras

Attenuation Correction and Incomplete Projection in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography Using Multi-Slice Fan Beam Collimators