Evaluation of six scatter correction methods based on spectral analysis in (99m)Tc SPECT imaging using SIMIND Monte...

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Medical Imaging Physics

Background:

• Compton-scattered photons degrade SPECT image quality.
• Accurate scatter correction is crucial for quantitative SPECT analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare six scatter correction methods for (99m)Tc SPECT.
• To identify the most effective method for improving image quality.

Main Methods:

• Utilized SIMIND Monte Carlo simulation to generate projection images.
• Assessed methods using image contrast, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and relative noise of the background (RNB).
• Compared dual-photopeak window (DPW) and various three energy window (TEW) approximations.

Main Results:

• Most methods improved image contrast by 2.7-26%, excluding DPW.
• Two methods exhibited non-uniform correction.
• RNB ranged from 0.03 (DPW) to 0.0727 (TEW trapezoidal).

Conclusions:

• The TEW method with triangular approximation offers ease of implementation.
• This method provides good improvements in contrast and SNR.
• TEW triangular approximation is proposed as the most appropriate scatter correction method due to its balanced performance.