The optimum technique for 201T1 tomography of myocardium: an investigation using phantoms

Rotating gamma-camera tomography is the method of choice for 201Tl perfusion imaging to detect myocardial ischaemia or infarction, but the optimum technique has not previously been investigated. Variables which can affect the utility of the images include acquisition time, collimator sensitivity and resolution, spatial filtering, reconstruction matrix and display parameters. An 'Iowa' design myocardial phantom containing 201Tl, with a defect representing an unperfused area, was used to study the effect of these variables. Results were assessed by measuring image contrast and non-uniformity and by observer grading trials. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and contrast ratios indicated that filtering the acquisition data with a count-dependent (Metz) filter before reconstruction and using a narrow slice width gave best results. No single collimator was superior for all four defect locations investigated but low-energy general purpose and high-resolution collimators were preferred to those with greater sensitivity. Reducing acquisition time by a factor of four compared with that for routine patient imaging affected contrast ratio, uniformity and area under ROC curves insignificantly, provided the optimum reconstruction was used. Displaying tomographic sections in colour gave no improvement in ROC curves over monochrome images. Data acquisition time or administered 201Tl radioactivity might therefore be reduced below the 25 min and 80 MBq often used for patient studies.