Collimator performance evaluation for In-111 SPECT using a detection/localization task

In SPECT, the collimator is a crucial element in controlling image quality. We take a task performance approach to collimator performance evaluation in which an ideal observer is applied to the raw camera data without regard to the subsequent reconstruction stage. The clinical context of our collimator study is one of searching for and detecting neuroendocrine tumor metastases in the liver as seen in In-111 Octreotide SPECT. Our task involves detection and localization of a signal and thus differs from the conventionally used detection-only task. The scalar task performance metric is ALROC, the area under the localization receiver operating characteristic curve. Since In-111 emits photons at both 171 and 245 keV, the higher energy emissions can contribute significant septal scatter and penetration. Our collimator evaluations address a question previously considered by Mähler et al (2012 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 59 47–53) who used a different methodology: does allowing a limited amount of septal scatter and penetration yield improved task performance? We used simulation methods to evaluate five parallel-hole collimators. The collimators had roughly equal geometric sensitivity and resolution but a range of contributions from septal effects leading to variations in total sensitivity and resolution. We found that the best performance was obtained with a collimator that allowed a moderate amount of septal scatter and penetration.