Segmented slant hole collimator for stationary cardiac SPECT: Monte Carlo simulations. 2015

Yanfei Mao, and Zhicong Yu, and Gengsheng L Zeng
Department of Radiology, Utah Center for Advanced Imaging Research (UCAIR), University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 and Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112.

OBJECTIVE This work is a preliminary study of a stationary cardiac SPECT system. The goal of this research is to propose a stationary cardiac SPECT system using segmented slant-hole collimators and to perform computer simulations to test the feasibility. Compared to the rotational SPECT, a stationary system has a benefit of acquiring temporally consistent projections. The most challenging issue in building a stationary system is to provide sufficient projection view-angles. METHODS A GATE (GEANT4 application for tomographic emission) Monte Carlo model was developed to simulate a two-detector stationary cardiac SPECT that uses segmented slant-hole collimators. Each detector contains seven segmented slant-hole sections that slant to a common volume at the rotation center. Consequently, 14 view-angles over 180° were acquired without any gantry rotation. The NCAT phantom was used for data generation and a tailored maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization algorithm was used for image reconstruction. Effects of limited number of view-angles and data truncation were carefully evaluated in the paper. RESULTS Simulation results indicated that the proposed segmented slant-hole stationary cardiac SPECT system is able to acquire sufficient data for cardiac imaging without a loss of image quality, even when the uptakes in the liver and kidneys are high. Seven views are acquired simultaneously at each detector, leading to 5-fold sensitivity gain over the conventional dual-head system at the same total acquisition time, which in turn increases the signal-to-noise ratio by 19%. The segmented slant-hole SPECT system also showed a good performance in lesion detection. In our prototype system, a short hole-length was used to reduce the dead zone between neighboring collimator segments. The measured sensitivity gain is about 17-fold over the conventional dual-head system. CONCLUSIONS The gate Monte Carlo simulations confirm the feasibility of the proposed stationary cardiac SPECT system with segmented slant-hole collimators. The proposed collimator consists of combined parallel and slant holes, and the image on the detector is not reduced in size.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007091 Image Processing, Computer-Assisted A technique of inputting two-dimensional or three-dimensional images into a computer and then enhancing or analyzing the imagery into a form that is more useful to the human observer. Biomedical Image Processing,Computer-Assisted Image Processing,Digital Image Processing,Image Analysis, Computer-Assisted,Image Reconstruction,Medical Image Processing,Analysis, Computer-Assisted Image,Computer-Assisted Image Analysis,Computer Assisted Image Analysis,Computer Assisted Image Processing,Computer-Assisted Image Analyses,Image Analyses, Computer-Assisted,Image Analysis, Computer Assisted,Image Processing, Biomedical,Image Processing, Computer Assisted,Image Processing, Digital,Image Processing, Medical,Image Processings, Medical,Image Reconstructions,Medical Image Processings,Processing, Biomedical Image,Processing, Digital Image,Processing, Medical Image,Processings, Digital Image,Processings, Medical Image,Reconstruction, Image,Reconstructions, Image
D009010 Monte Carlo Method In statistics, a technique for numerically approximating the solution of a mathematical problem by studying the distribution of some random variable, often generated by a computer. The name alludes to the randomness characteristic of the games of chance played at the gambling casinos in Monte Carlo. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, 1993) Method, Monte Carlo
D005240 Feasibility Studies Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project. Feasibility Study,Studies, Feasibility,Study, Feasibility
D006321 Heart The hollow, muscular organ that maintains the circulation of the blood. Hearts
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D015899 Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon A method of computed tomography that uses radionuclides which emit a single photon of a given energy. The camera is rotated 180 or 360 degrees around the patient to capture images at multiple positions along the arc. The computer is then used to reconstruct the transaxial, sagittal, and coronal images from the 3-dimensional distribution of radionuclides in the organ. The advantages of SPECT are that it can be used to observe biochemical and physiological processes as well as size and volume of the organ. The disadvantage is that, unlike positron-emission tomography where the positron-electron annihilation results in the emission of 2 photons at 180 degrees from each other, SPECT requires physical collimation to line up the photons, which results in the loss of many available photons and hence degrades the image. CAT Scan, Single-Photon Emission,CT Scan, Single-Photon Emission,Radionuclide Tomography, Single-Photon Emission-Computed,SPECT,Single-Photon Emission-Computed Tomography,Tomography, Single-Photon, Emission-Computed,Single-Photon Emission CT Scan,Single-Photon Emission Computer-Assisted Tomography,Single-Photon Emission Computerized Tomography,CAT Scan, Single Photon Emission,CT Scan, Single Photon Emission,Emission-Computed Tomography, Single-Photon,Radionuclide Tomography, Single Photon Emission Computed,Single Photon Emission CT Scan,Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography,Single Photon Emission Computer Assisted Tomography,Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography,Tomography, Single-Photon Emission-Computed

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