Simulation study on a stationary data acquisition SPECT system with multi-pinhole collimators attached to a...

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Medical Imaging
• SPECT/CT

Background:

• Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a vital nuclear imaging technique.
• Traditional SPECT systems require patient movement during data acquisition.
• Developing stationary SPECT systems enhances patient comfort and reduces motion artifacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel stationary SPECT system utilizing a triple-head gamma camera.
• To evaluate multi-pinhole collimator configurations for optimal stationary data acquisition.

Main Methods:

• Simulated data acquisition using triple-head gamma cameras with 3-12 pinholes per head.
• Tilted collimator holes to optimize field of view coverage.
• Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization (OS-EM) reconstruction with X-ray CT-based attenuation correction.

Main Results:

• Fewer pinholes improved spatial resolution in point source phantoms.
• More pinholes reduced artifacts in brain phantom imaging.
• Over eight pinholes per detector yielded accurate activity distribution in myocardial phantom simulations.

Conclusions:

• More than eight pinholes per detector are necessary for artifact-free brain and myocardial imaging with the developed stationary triple-head SPECT system.