Multidetector SPECT scanner for brain and body: system performance and applications

A multidetector whole-body single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanner has been developed for high-resolution dynamic SPECT imaging. The scanner consists of three detector rings with 128 NaI crystals (14 x 26 x 30 mm) in each ring, providing three tomographic images at 30 mm intervals. This system uses a rotation of collimator around the patient combined with the detector rotation for fine data sampling. The in-plane spatial resolution is 14.2 mm (full width of half maximum) with high-resolution (HR) collimator, 22.0 mm with high-sensitivity (HS) collimator, and 10.6 mm with high-resolution brain (HRB) collimator. The axial resolution is 24.0, 34.0, and 23.5 mm with HR, HS, and HRB collimator, respectively. The sensitivity measured with a 20% energy window for 99mTc in a 20 cm diameter phantom is 5.7, 17.0 and 6.6 kcps/muCi/ml with HR, HS, and HRB collimator, respectively. This scanner allows dynamic SPECT imaging both for brain and body organs with good spatial resolution.