SU-E-I-86: Image Fusion Verification Using a Vendor-Independent Phantom

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging Physics
• Nuclear Medicine Technology
• Quality Control in Medical Devices

Background:

• Hybrid PET/CT and SPECT/CT systems are crucial for accurate medical diagnoses.
• Ensuring precise image fusion and alignment is vital for diagnostic accuracy in hybrid imaging.
• Existing quality control methods may lack vendor independence or simplicity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the image fusion accuracy of hybrid PET/CT and SPECT/CT systems.
• To introduce a novel, vendor-independent phantom for assessing image alignment.
• To provide a straightforward tool for quality control in hybrid imaging.

Main Methods:

• Development of a vendor-independent phantom with radioactive solution-filled channels and internal wires.
• Utilizing two phantom orientations: a perpendicular cube and opposing ramps.
• Scanning various vendor and model hybrid PET/CT and SPECT/CT systems.

Main Results:

• The perpendicular phantom allows visual evaluation of x, y, and z registration accuracy.
• The opposing ramp phantom enables verification of z-axis offsets from single axial images.
• Alignment data were successfully acquired and analyzed from multiple hybrid imaging systems.

Conclusions:

• The developed fusion phantom serves as a convenient, vendor-independent quality control tool.
• It simplifies the evaluation of image alignment accuracy in hybrid imaging systems.
• The phantom design facilitates straightforward 3D processing and visual interpretation of alignment.