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NEMA NU 4-2008 Comparison of preclinical PET imaging systems
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
standard NU 4-2008 for performance measurements of smallanimal
tomographs was recently published. Before this standard,
there were no standard testing procedures for preclinical
PET systems, and manufacturers could not provide clear
specifications similar to those available for clinical systems
under NEMA NU 2-1994 and 2-2001. Consequently, performance
evaluation papers used methods that were modified ad
hoc from the clinical PET NEMA standard, thus making
comparisons between systems difficult. Methods: We acquired
NEMA NU 4-2008 performance data for a collection of commercial
animal PET systems manufactured since 2000: micro-
PET P4, microPET R4, microPET Focus 120, microPET Focus
220, Inveon, ClearPET, Mosaic HP, Argus (formerly eXplore
Vista), VrPET, LabPET 8, and LabPET 12. The data included
spatial resolution, counting-rate performance, scatter fraction,
sensitivity, and image quality and were acquired using settings
for routine PET. Results: The data showed a steady improvement
in system performance for newer systems as compared
with first-generation systems, with notable improvements in
spatial resolution and sensitivity. Conclusion: Variation in system
design makes direct comparisons between systems from
different vendors difficult. When considering the results from
NEMA testing, one must also consider the suitability of the
PET system for the specific imaging task at hand.This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Discovery Grant 341628-2007. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.En prens