Pinhole SPECT Reconstruction Using Blobs and Resolution Recovery

We study the performance of an iterative reconstruction algorithm for single pinhole SPECT, in which the correction for pinhole blurring is realized by averaging multiple projection rays by means of a Gaussian quadrature method. In addition we compare the regularizing effect obtained by using blobs basis functions and voxels with and without postsmoothing. Contrast-noise and resolution-noise studies with a mathematical phantom show that blobs improve the tradeoff between bias and variance compared to voxels with the same grid spacing. The performance of the voxel reconstruction is improved significantly by using postsmoothing with a Gaussian kernel and by taking finer voxel sampling, but the results with blobs remain better provided the parameters of the blobs are carefully selected. We have also reconstructed measured pinhole data for a resolution phantom and for the bone scan of a rat. With these data the visual difference between the postsmoothed voxel reconstruction and the blob reconstruction is small

[1]  F. Beekman,et al.  Design and simulation of a high-resolution stationary SPECT system for small animals. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[2]  W. Niessen,et al.  Selection of task-dependent diffusion filters for the post-processing of SPECT images. , 1998, Physics in medicine and biology.

[3]  Simon R Cherry,et al.  In vivo molecular and genomic imaging: new challenges for imaging physics. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[4]  R M Lewitt,et al.  Multidimensional digital image representations using generalized Kaiser-Bessel window functions. , 1990, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science.

[5]  W. Hawkins,et al.  3D RBI-EM reconstruction with spherically-symmetric basis function for SPECT rotating slat collimator. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[6]  Michel Defrise,et al.  Reproducibility of left ventricular volume and ejection fraction measurements in rat using pinhole gated SPECT , 2005, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

[7]  G. Gullberg,et al.  A rotating and warping projector/backprojector for fan-beam and cone-beam iterative algorithm , 1994 .

[8]  Ronald J. Jaszczak,et al.  Analytic determination of pinhole collimator sensitivity with penetration , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[9]  Paul Suetens,et al.  Optimization of geometrical calibration in pinhole SPECT , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[10]  R. Lewitt.  Alternatives to voxels for image representation in iterative reconstruction algorithms , 1992, Physics in medicine and biology.

[11]  T. Hebert,et al.  A generalized EM algorithm for 3-D Bayesian reconstruction from Poisson data using Gibbs priors. , 1989, IEEE transactions on medical imaging.

[12]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[13]  Grant T. Gullberg,et al.  A rotating and squashing projector-backprojector pair for fan-beam and cone-beam iterative algorithms , 1993, 1993 IEEE Conference Record Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference.

[14]  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.

[15]  Donald W. Wilson,et al.  FastSPECT II: a second-generation high-resolution dynamic SPECT imager , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

[16]  Bruce H. Hasegawa,et al.  Quantitative SPECT reconstruction using multiray projection integrators , 1995, 1995 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record.

[17]  Irene A. Stegun,et al.  Handbook of Mathematical Functions. , 1966 .

[18]  S. Meikle,et al.  Small animal SPECT and its place in the matrix of molecular imaging technologies , 2005, Physics in medicine and biology.

[19]  T. Schurrat,et al.  On the performance of two multi-pinhole SPECT systems for small animal research , 2004, IEEE Symposium Conference Record Nuclear Science 2004..

[20]  Robert M. Lewitt,et al.  Application of the row action maximum likelihood algorithm with spherical basis functions to clinical PET imaging , 2001 .

[21]  Freek J Beekman,et al.  Monte Carlo simulations of pinhole imaging accelerated by kernel-based forced detection. , 2002, Physics in medicine and biology.

[22]  Nils Schramm,et al.  Quantitation of dopamine transporter blockade by methylphenidate: first in vivo investigation using [123I]FP-CIT and a dedicated small animal SPECT , 2005, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

[23]  Grant T. Gullberg,et al.  Slab-by-slab blurring model for geometric point response correction and attenuation correction using iterative reconstruction algorithms , 1997, 1997 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record.

[24]  B.M.W. Tsui,et al.  Attenuation and detector response compensations used with Gibbs prior distributions for maximum a posteriori SPECT reconstruction , 1991, Conference Record of the 1991 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference.

[25]  R J Jaszczak,et al.  An analytic model of pinhole aperture penetration for 3D pinhole SPECT image reconstruction. , 1998, Physics in medicine and biology.

[26]  M. Bentourkia,et al.  Cross-validation stopping rule for ML-EM reconstruction of dynamic PET series: effect on image quality and quantitative accuracy , 1999, 1999 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium. Conference Record. 1999 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (Cat. No.99CH37019).

[27]  B.M.W. Tsui,et al.  Three-dimensional Iterative Reconstruction Algorithms With Attenuation And Geometric Point Response Correction , 1990, 1990 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record.

[28]  Samuel Matej,et al.  Efficient 3D grids for image reconstruction using spherically-symmetric volume elements , 1995 .

[29]  Ronald J. Jaszczak,et al.  Analytic determination of the pinhole collimator's point-spread function and RMS resolution with penetration , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[30]  Ulla Ruotsalainen,et al.  Accelerated median root prior reconstruction for pinhole single-photon emission tomography (SPET). , 2003, Physics in medicine and biology.

[31]  Jeffrey A. Fessler,et al.  A penalized-likelihood image reconstruction method for emission tomography, compared to postsmoothed maximum-likelihood with matched spatial resolution , 2003, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[32]  T. K. Narayan,et al.  Evaluation of task-oriented performance of several fully 3D PET reconstruction algorithms. , 1994, Physics in medicine and biology.

[33]  Michael A. King,et al.  CHAPTER 22 – Attenuation, Scatter, and Spatial Resolution Compensation in SPECT , 2004 .

[34]  M. Defrise,et al.  Correction for imperfect camera motion and resolution recovery in pinhole SPECT , 2004, IEEE Symposium Conference Record Nuclear Science 2004..

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

[36]  J A Fessler,et al.  A comparison of rotation- and blob-based system models for 3D SPECT with depth-dependent detector response. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[37]  André Constantinesco,et al.  Assessment of left ventricular perfusion, volumes, and motion in mice using pinhole gated SPECT. , 2005, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.