Model-based correction for scatter and tailing effects in simultaneous 99mTc and 123I imaging for a CdZnTe cardiac SPECT camera

2015 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. An advantage of semiconductor-based dedicated cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) cameras when compared to conventional Anger cameras is superior energy resolution. This provides the potential for improved separation of the photopeaks in dual radionuclide imaging, such as combined use of 99mTc and 123I . There is, however, the added complexity of tailing effects in the detectors that must be accounted for. In this paper we present a model-based correction algorithm which extracts the useful primary counts of 99mTc and 123I from projection data. Equations describing the in-patient scatter and tailing effects in the detectors are iteratively solved for both radionuclides simultaneously using a maximum a posteriori probability algorithm with one-step-late evaluation. Energy window-dependent parameters for the equations describing in-patient scatter are estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. Parameters for the equations describing tailing effects are estimated using virtually scatter-free experimental measurements on a dedicated cardiac SPECT camera with CdZnTe-detectors. When applied to a phantom study with both 99mTc and 123I, results show that the estimated spatial distribution of events from 99mTc in the 99mTc photopeak energy window is very similar to that measured in a single 99mTc phantom study. The extracted images of primary events display increased cold lesion contrasts for both 99mTc and 123I

Quantitative gamma camera imaging for radionuclide therapy dosimetry

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Optimisation of window settings for quantitative 111In imaging – a comparison of measurements to Monte Carlo

Quantification in Nuclear Medicine Imaging is highly desirable for a number of reasons. In Targeted Radionuclide Therapy for example, accurate estimation of the absorbed dose delivered to the patient depends upon accurately quantified images. In Tracer Kinetic Studies quantification is also required in order to obtain accurate biodistribution data. One of the major problems connected with Nuclear Medicine Imaging is scattered radiation. Photons emitted within the patient can be scattered by the patients themselves or by the collimator of the imaging system. This results in loss of energy and spatial information leading to degradation in image quality.A widely used method for scatter correction is subtraction of images formed using energy windows in the region of the photopeaks. In this thesis a number of different energy window settings for the isotope 111In are investigated using both phantom experiments and Monte Carlo simulations with the code SIMIND. Parameters used for comparison of the different window settings include; spatial resolution, sensitivity, image contrast, activity quantification and spill out. Also, the fraction of scattered photons in the detected spectra is investigated for the Monte Carlo modelled data and compared to the calculated experimental Scatter to Total Ratios for the various window settings.For each of the scatter correction techniques experimental and Monte Carlo calculated results are tabulated and compared. The scatter correction techniques are then intercompared. Finally recommendations are made as to which is the best performing technique

Prospective data-driven respiratory gating of [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT

Aim: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate a data-driven gating software's performance, in terms of identifying the respiratory signal, comparing [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC and [F-18]FDG examinations. In addition, for the [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC examinations, tracer uptake quantitation and liver lesion detectability were assessed. Methods: Twenty-four patients with confirmed or suspected neuroendocrine tumours underwent whole-body [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT examinations. Prospective DDG was applied on all bed positions and respiratory motion correction was triggered automatically when the detected respiratory signal exceeded a certain threshold (R value >= 15), at which point the scan time for that bed position was doubled. These bed positions were reconstructed with quiescent period gating (QPG), retaining 50% of the total coincidences. A respiratory signal evaluation regarding the software's efficacy in detecting respiratory motion for [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC was conducted and compared to [F-18]FDG data. Measurements of SUVmax, SUVmean, and tumour volume were performed on [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC PET and compared between gated and non-gated images. Results: The threshold of R >= 15 was exceeded and gating triggered on mean 2.1 bed positions per examination for [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC as compared to 1.4 for [F-18]FDG. In total, 34 tumours were evaluated in a quantitative analysis. An increase of 25.3% and 28.1%, respectively, for SUVmax (P < 0.0001) and SUVmean (P < 0.0001), and decrease of 21.1% in tumour volume (P < 0.0001) was found when DDG was applied. Conclusions: High respiratory signal was exclusively detected in bed positions where respiratory motion was expected, indicating reliable performance of the DDG software on [Ga-68]Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT. DDG yielded significantly higher SUVmax and SUVmean values and smaller tumour volumes, as compared to non-gated images

Clinical feasibility study to detect angiogenesis following bone marrow stem cell transplantation in chronic ischaemic heart failure

Background: Bone marrow stem cell (BMSC) therapy for cardiovascular disease has shown considerable preclinical and clinical promise, but there remains a need for mechanistic studies to help bridge the transition from bench to bedside. We have designed a substudy to our REGENERATE-IHD trial (ClinicalTrial.gov Identifier: NCT00747708) to assess the feasibility of a novel imaging technique to detect angiogenesis following BMSC therapy. Methods and Results: Nine patients who had been randomized to receive intracoronary injection of G-CSF-mobilized BMSCs or control (serum) were included in this substudy. Patients underwent SPECT imaging using a novel radiolabelled peptide (99mTc-NC100692), which has a high affinity for the αvβ3 integrin, an angiogenesis-related integrin. This was repeated 4 days after intracoronary injection of BMSCs/control to assess for neoangiogenesis. The imaging study was well tolerated with no adverse effects. Myocardial tracer uptake was detectable at baseline in all nine patients, with no myocardial uptake seen in two control patients used for comparison. Baseline uptake appeared to correlate with baseline ejection fraction but changes with therapy did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: SPECT imaging with a 99mTc-NC100692 is feasible in patients with heart failure, with baseline activity suggesting persistent angiogenesis in patients with remote myocardial infarction

Scatter and crosstalk corrections for 99mTc/ 123I dual-radionuclide imaging using a CZT SPECT system with pinhole collimators

Purpose: The energy spectrum for a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector has a low energy tail due to incomplete charge collection and intercrystal scattering. Due to these solid-state detector effects, scatter would be overestimated if the conventional triple-energy window (TEW) method is used for scatter and crosstalk corrections in CZT-based imaging systems. The objective of this work is to develop a scatter and crosstalk correction method for 99mTc/123I dual-radionuclide imaging for a CZT-based dedicated cardiac SPECT system with pinhole collimators (GE Discovery NM 530c/570c). Methods: A tailing model was developed to account for the low energy tail effects of the CZT detector. The parameters of the model were obtained using 99mTc and 123I point source measurements. A scatter model was defined to characterize the relationship between down-scatter and self-scatter projections. The parameters for this model were obtained from Monte Carlo simulation using SIMIND. The tailing and scatter models were further incorporated into a projection count model, and the primary and self-scatter projections of each radionuclide were determined with a maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) iterative estimation approach. The extracted scatter and crosstalk projections were then incorporated into MLEM image reconstruction as an additive term in forward projection to obtain scatter- and crosstalk-corrected images. The proposed method was validated using Monte Carlo simulation, line source experiment, anthropomorphic torso phantom studies, and patient studies. The performance of the proposed method was also compared to that obtained with the conventional TEW method. Results: Monte Carlo simulations and line source experiment demonstrated that the TEW method overestimated scatter while their proposed method provided more accurate scatter estimation by considering the low energy tail effect. In the phantom study, improved defect contrasts were observed with both correction methods compared to no correction, especially for the images of 99mTc in dualradionuclide imaging where there is heavy contamination from 123I. In this case, the nontransmural defect contrast was improved from 0.39 to 0.47 with the TEW method and to 0.51 with their proposed method and the transmural defect contrast was improved from 0.62 to 0.74 with the TEW method and to 0.73 with their proposed method. In the patient study, the proposed method provided higher myocardium-to-blood pool contrast than that of the TEW method. Similar to the phantom experiment, the improvement was the most substantial for the images of 99mTc in dual-radionuclide imaging. In this case, the myocardium-to-blood pool ratio was improved from 7.0 to 38.3 with the TEW method and to 63.6 with their proposed method. Compared to the TEW method, the proposed method also provided higher count levels in the reconstructed images in both phantom and patient studies, indicating reduced overestimation of scatter. Using the proposed method, consistent reconstruction results were obtained for both single-radionuclide data with scatter correction and dual-radionuclide data with scatter and crosstalk corrections, in both phantom and human studies. Conclusions: The authors demonstrate that the TEW method leads to overestimation in scatter and crosstalk for the CZT-based imaging system while the proposed scatter and crosstalk correction method can provide more accurate self-scatter and down-scatter estimations for quantitative singleradionuclide and dual-radionuclide imaging