Technical Note: Nuclear imaging with an x-ray flat panel detector: A proof-of-concept study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiology

Background:

• Interventional procedures using radionuclides require immediate visualization of activity distribution.
• Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is crucial for this visualization.
• Current SPECT systems may not be readily available in intervention rooms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the feasibility of performing SPECT using an x-ray flat panel detector (FPD) integrated into a C-arm cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) system.
• To investigate the achievable SPECT reconstruction quality with this novel approach.

Main Methods:

• A proof-of-concept experiment evaluated nuclear imaging capabilities of an x-ray FPD.
• Simulations were used to validate experimental findings and assess performance.
• Evaluated three FPD configurations (standard, sophisticated reconstruction, future hardware) and a conventional gamma camera.
• Assessed resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) using Jaszczak and NEMA IQ phantoms with 99mTc.

Main Results:

• Nuclear images were successfully acquired using the FPD, validating the proof-of-concept.
• Simulations accurately predicted the FPD's response.
• The CNR for the 37mm sphere in the NEMA IQ phantom was 11.3 ± 0.7 for standard FPD, improving to 13.5 ± 1.4 with sophisticated reconstruction.
• Future FPDs are expected to achieve a CNR of 18.1 ± 1.3, compared to 22.8 ± 1.2 for gamma cameras.

Conclusions:

• X-ray FPDs in CBCT scanners show potential for nuclear imaging applications.
• SPECT reconstruction quality using FPDs is currently lower than conventional gamma cameras.
• This FPD approach offers a cost-effective alternative for interventional SPECT imaging, potentially eliminating the need for dedicated mobile SPECT scanners.