Walk-through flat panel total-body PET: a patient-centered design for high throughput imaging at lower cost using...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Nuclear Medicine
• Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Background:

• Long axial field-of-view (LAFOV) PET systems offer higher sensitivity than standard axial field-of-view (SAFOV) systems for torso and full-body imaging.
• Current total-body PET (TB-PET) systems face limitations in patient throughput due to handling and personnel shortages, alongside high costs, hindering widespread implementation.
• Existing TB-PET systems require time-consuming patient positioning on a table, impacting overall efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel, cost-effective, dual flat panel total-body PET (WT-TB-PET) system designed for patients in upright standing positions.
• To evaluate the WT-TB-PET system's sensitivity, component costs, and patient throughput in comparison to SAFOV and LAFOV PET systems.
• To address the limitations of current TB-PET systems by improving patient handling and system cost-effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Patient dimensions were derived from 40 randomly selected PET-CT scans to define the WT-TB-PET design.
• System sensitivity was determined using Gate Monte Carlo simulations.
• Patient throughput times were recorded for a SAFOV system and used to estimate throughput for WT-TB-PET and LAFOV systems, considering factors like positioning and system sensitivity.

Main Results:

• The proposed WT-TB-PET system, with two 70 cm x 106 cm flat panels, demonstrates comparable sensitivity to LAFOV systems but with significantly reduced detector and scintillator volume.
• Estimated component costs for WT-TB-PET are substantially lower than LAFOV systems and only slightly higher than SAFOV systems.
• The WT-TB-PET system is projected to achieve a significantly higher patient throughput (up to 87 patients/day) compared to SAFOV (28 patients/day) and LAFOV (53-60 patients/day), enabling a 66% reduction in ordered activity per patient.

Conclusions:

• The monolithic BGO or LYSO-based WT-TB-PET system with DOI capabilities offers a cost-effective solution for TB-PET, approaching SAFOV system costs.
• The upright, walk-through design enhances patient throughput through rapid positioning between vertical flat panel detectors.
• High spatial resolution (<2 mm) uniform over the field-of-view is achieved using DOI-capable monolithic scintillators, making TB-PET more accessible.