Evaluation of a Wobbling Method Applied to Correcting Defective Pixels of CZT Detectors in SPECT Imaging

In this paper, we propose a wobbling method to correct bad pixels in cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detectors, using information of related images. We build up an automated device that realizes the wobbling correction for small animal Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging. The wobbling correction method is applied to various constellations of defective pixels. The corrected images are compared with the results of conventional interpolation method, and the correction effectiveness is evaluated quantitatively using the factor of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM). In summary, the proposed wobbling method, equipped with the automatic mechanical system, provides a better image quality for correcting defective pixels, which could be used for all pixelated detectors for molecular imaging.