Feasibility of ultra-high-speed acquisition in xSPECT bone algorithm: a phantom study with advanced bone...

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Medical Imaging
• Radiopharmacology

Background:

• xSPECT Bone (xB) offers quantitative, high-resolution SPECT imaging.
• Long acquisition times for xB increase patient burden.
• Reducing scan duration is crucial for clinical feasibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of shortening xB acquisition time.
• To assess image quality and quantitative accuracy with reduced scan times.
• To compare standard and ultra-high-speed (UHS) xB protocols.

Main Methods:

• Development of a custom xSPECT bone-specific (xSB) phantom.
• Acquisition of SPECT data at various time points (3-30 min).
• Reconstruction using Flash3D (F3D) and xB algorithms; analysis of quantitative SPECT values (QSV), coefficient of variation (CV), and full width at half maximum (FWHM).

Main Results:

• xB images demonstrated higher accuracy in radioactivity concentration compared to F3D.
• CV was similar or lower in xB images, independent of acquisition time.
• FWHM was consistently lower for xB images, indicating better resolution.
• Standard and UHS-xB images showed strong positive correlation in standardized uptake values (SUV).

Conclusions:

• xB imaging can be acquired in one-third the time without compromising image quality.
• UHS-xB provides SUV values comparable to standard xB for clinical interpretation.
• Reduced acquisition time enhances patient comfort and workflow efficiency.