PET instrumentation and reconstruction algorithms in whole-body applications.

The aim of this work is the presentation and comparison of state-of-the-art dedicated PET systems actually available on the market, in terms of physical performance and technical features. Particular attention has been given to evaluate the whole-body performance by sensitivity, spatial resolution, dead time, noise equivalent counting rate (NECR), and scatter fraction. PET/CT systems were also included as new proposals to improve diagnostic accuracy of PET, allowing effective anatomic integration to functional data. An overview of actually implemented reconstruction algorithms is also reported to fully understand all of the factors that contribute to image quality.

[1]  C. Melcher.  Scintillation crystals for PET. , 2000, Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[2]  William F. Jones,et al.  The architectural impact of single photon transmission measurements on full ring 3-D positron tomography , 1995, 1995 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record.

[3]  Robert M. Lewitt,et al.  Efficient 3D grids for image reconstruction using spherically-symmetric volume elements , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium - NSS'94.

[4]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Positron emission tomography and autoradiography: Principles and applications for the brain and heart , 1985 .

[5]  M. Daube-Witherspoon,et al.  Treatment of axial data in three-dimensional PET. , 1987, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[6]  M. Defrise,et al.  Attenuation correction in whole-body FDG oncological studies: the role of statistical reconstruction , 1999, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[7]  Tn Usa,et al.  CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS WITH LSO, A SCINTILLATOR WITH EXCELLENT CHARACTERISTICS FOR PET , 1999 .

[8]  V. Bettinardi,et al.  An automatic classification technique for attenuation correction in positron emission tomography , 1999, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[9]  Michael E. Casey,et al.  NEMA count-rate evaluation of the first and second generation of the Ecat Exact and Ecat Exact HR family of scanners , 2001 .

[10]  R. Lecomte,et al.  Scintillation light emission studies of LSO scintillators , 1998, 1998 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record. 1998 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (Cat. No.98CH36255).

[11]  H. Malcolm Hudson,et al.  Accelerated image reconstruction using ordered subsets of projection data , 1994, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[12]  S C Strother,et al.  Improved resolution for PET volume imaging through three-dimensional iterative reconstruction. , 1997, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[13]  H. Zaidi.  Comparative evaluation of scatter correction techniques in 3D positron emission tomography , 2000, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[14]  D. Newport,et al.  A Single Scatter Simulation Technique for Scatter Correction in 3D PET , 1996 .

[15]  T. Budinger,et al.  PET instrumentation: what are the limits? , 1998, Seminars in nuclear medicine.

[16]  B F Hutton,et al.  Simultaneous emission and transmission measurements for attenuation correction in whole-body PET. , 1995, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[17]  Charles C. Watson,et al.  ECAT ART — a continuously rotating PET camera: Performance characteristics, initial clinical studies, and installation considerations in a nuclear medicine department , 2005, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[18]  W. W. Moses,et al.  Empirical observation of resolution degradation in positron emission tomographs utilizing block detectors , 1994 .

[19]  R. Boellaard,et al.  Experimental and clinical evaluation of iterative reconstruction (OSEM) in dynamic PET: quantitative characteristics and effects on kinetic modeling. , 2001, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[20]  Simon R. Cherry,et al.  The Changing Design of Positron Imaging Systems. , 1998, Clinical positron imaging : official journal of the Institute for Clinical P.E.T.

[21]  M. Sandler.  Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine , 2002 .

[22]  T R Miller,et al.  Fast maximum-likelihood reconstruction. , 1992, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[23]  Ronald Nutt,et al.  The History of Positron Emission Tomography , 2002 .

[24]  D A Rich,et al.  A brief history of positron emission tomography. , 1997, Journal of nuclear medicine technology.

[25]  G. Muehllehner,et al.  SODIUM IODIDE POSITRON DETECTORS : PET/SPECT AND DEDICATED SYSTEMS , 1999 .

[26]  R E Carson,et al.  Noise reduction in oncology FDG PET images by iterative reconstruction: a quantitative assessment. , 2001, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[27]  Cyrill Burger,et al.  PET-CT image co-registration in the thorax: influence of respiration , 2002, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

[28]  Paul Kinahan,et al.  A combined PET/CT scanner for clinical oncology. , 2000, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[29]  J S Karp,et al.  Performance of a whole-body PET scanner using curve-plate NaI(Tl) detectors. , 2001, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[30]  R. Coleman,et al.  A Perspective on Clinical PET Imaging. , 1999, Clinical positron imaging : official journal of the Institute for Clinical P.E.T.

[31]  Carole Lartizien,et al.  Correction methods for random coincidences in 3D wholebody PET imaging , 2001, 2001 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (Cat. No.01CH37310).

[32]  Michel Defrise,et al.  Exact and approximate rebinning algorithms for 3-D PET data , 1997, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[33]  Ignace Lemahieu,et al.  Iterative Image Reconstruction From Projections Based On Generalised Kaiser-Bessel Window Functions , 1999 .

[34]  Alvaro R. De Pierro,et al.  A row-action alternative to the EM algorithm for maximizing likelihood in emission tomography , 1996, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[35]  G Brix,et al.  Performance evaluation of a whole-body PET scanner using the NEMA protocol. National Electrical Manufacturers Association. , 1997, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[36]  Thomas Beyer,et al.  The SMART scanner: a combined PET/CT tomograph for clinical oncology , 1998, 1998 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record. 1998 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (Cat. No.98CH36255).

[37]  J.S. Karp,et al.  Application of the 3D row action maximum likelihood algorithm to clinical PET imaging , 1999, 1999 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium. Conference Record. 1999 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (Cat. No.99CH37019).

[38]  Joel S. Karp,et al.  Optimizing the performance of a PET detector using discrete GSO crystals on a continuous lightguide , 1999 .

[39]  William F. Jones,et al.  Design and performance of a single photon transmission measurement for the ECAT ART , 1997, 1997 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record.

[40]  M C Gilardi,et al.  Comparison of dual-head coincidence PET versus ring PET in tumor patients. , 1999, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[41]  Paul Kinahan,et al.  Attenuation correction for a combined 3D PET/CT scanner. , 1998, Medical physics.

[42]  Valerie Treyer,et al.  CT vs 68Ge attenuation correction in a combined PET/CT system: evaluation of the effect of lowering the CT tube current , 2002, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

[43]  Robert M. Lewitt,et al.  Practical considerations for 3-D image reconstruction using spherically symmetric volume elements , 1996, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[44]  Thomas K. Lewellen,et al.  Investigation of the performance of the General Electric Advance positron emission tomograph in 3D mode , 1995 .

[45]  N. Mullani,et al.  A segmented attenuation correction for PET. , 1991, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[46]  T R Miller,et al.  Clinically important characteristics of maximum-likelihood reconstruction. , 1992, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[47]  E. Hoffman,et al.  Measuring PET scanner sensitivity: relating countrates to image signal-to-noise ratios using noise equivalents counts , 1990 .

[48]  T D Cradduck,et al.  National electrical manufacturers association , 1983, Journal of the A.I.E.E..

[49]  P. Grangeat,et al.  Three-Dimensional Image Reconstruction in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine , 1996, Computational Imaging and Vision.

[50]  Paul Kinahan,et al.  Analytic 3D image reconstruction using all detected events , 1989 .

[51]  Michael E. Phelps,et al.  PET imaging: An overview and instrumentation , 1990 .

[52]  T G Turkington,et al.  Performance characteristics of a whole-body PET scanner. , 1994, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[53]  S Grootoonk,et al.  A rotating PET scanner using BGO block detectors: design, performance and applications. , 1993, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.

[54]  Thomas Beyer,et al.  CT-based attenuation correction for PET/CT scanners in the presence of contrast agent , 2002, 2002 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record.

[55]  T G Turkington,et al.  Introduction to PET instrumentation. , 2001, Journal of nuclear medicine technology.

[56]  Dale L. Bailey,et al.  A method for measuring the absolute sensitivity of positron emission tomographic scanners , 1991, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

[57]  Michael E. Casey,et al.  Development of a daily quality check procedure for the high resolution research tomograph (HRRT) using natural LSO background radioactivity , 2001 .

[58]  D. Townsend,et al.  The Theory and Practice of 3D PET , 1998, Developments in Nuclear Medicine.