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Title: Analytical, experimental, and Monte Carlo system response matrix for pinhole SPECT reconstruction

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the performance of two approaches to the system response matrix (SRM) calculation in pinhole single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) reconstruction. Methods: Evaluation was performed using experimental data from a low magnification pinhole SPECT system that consisted of a rotating flat detector with a monolithic scintillator crystal. The SRM was computed following two approaches, which were based on Monte Carlo simulations (MC-SRM) and analytical techniques in combination with an experimental characterization (AE-SRM). The spatial response of the system, obtained by using the two approaches, was compared with experimental data. The effect of the MC-SRM and AE-SRM approaches on the reconstructed image was assessed in terms of image contrast, signal-to-noise ratio, image quality, and spatial resolution. To this end, acquisitions were carried out using a hot cylinder phantom (consisting of five fillable rods with diameters of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 mm and a uniform cylindrical chamber) and a custom-made Derenzo phantom, with center-to-center distances between adjacent rods of 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 mm. Results: Good agreement was found for the spatial response of the system between measured data and results derived from MC-SRM and AE-SRM. Only minor differences for point sources at distances smaller than the radius ofmore » rotation and large incidence angles were found. Assessment of the effect on the reconstructed image showed a similar contrast for both approaches, with values higher than 0.9 for rod diameters greater than 1 mm and higher than 0.8 for rod diameter of 1 mm. The comparison in terms of image quality showed that all rods in the different sections of a custom-made Derenzo phantom could be distinguished. The spatial resolution (FWHM) was 0.7 mm at iteration 100 using both approaches. The SNR was lower for reconstructed images using MC-SRM than for those reconstructed using AE-SRM, indicating that AE-SRM deals better with the projection noise than MC-SRM. Conclusions: The authors' findings show that both approaches provide good solutions to the problem of calculating the SRM in pinhole SPECT reconstruction. The AE-SRM was faster to create and handle the projection noise better than MC-SRM. Nevertheless, the AE-SRM required a tedious experimental characterization of the intrinsic detector response. Creation of the MC-SRM required longer computation time and handled the projection noise worse than the AE-SRM. Nevertheless, the MC-SRM inherently incorporates extensive modeling of the system and therefore experimental characterization was not required.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];
  1. Fundación Ramón Domínguez, Medicina Nuclear, CHUS, Spain and Grupo de Imaxe Molecular, IDIS, Santiago de Compostela 15706 (Spain)
  2. Unitat de Biofísica, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain and Servei de Física Médica i Protecció Radiológica, Institut Catalá d'Oncologia, Barcelona 08036 (Spain)
  3. Fundación Ramón Domínguez, Medicina Nuclear, CHUS, Santiago de Compostela 15706 (Spain)
  4. Servei de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona (Spain)
  5. Unitat de Biofísica, Facultat de Medicina, Casanova 143 (Spain)
  6. Servicio Medicina Nuclear, CHUS (Spain)
  7. Spain
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22250941
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Medical Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 41; Journal Issue: 3; Other Information: (c) 2014 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-2405
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE; CALIBRATION STANDARDS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; IMAGES; INCIDENCE ANGLE; MONTE CARLO METHOD; PHANTOMS; POINT SOURCES; SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO; SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY; SPATIAL RESOLUTION

Citation Formats

Aguiar, Pablo, Pino, Francisco, Silva-Rodríguez, Jesús, Pavía, Javier, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer, CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Ros, Doménec, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer, CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Ruibal, Álvaro, Grupo de Imaxe Molecular, Facultade de Medicina, Fundación Tejerina, Madrid, and others, and. Analytical, experimental, and Monte Carlo system response matrix for pinhole SPECT reconstruction. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1118/1.4866380.
Aguiar, Pablo, Pino, Francisco, Silva-Rodríguez, Jesús, Pavía, Javier, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer, CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Ros, Doménec, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer, CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Ruibal, Álvaro, Grupo de Imaxe Molecular, Facultade de Medicina, Fundación Tejerina, Madrid, & others, and. Analytical, experimental, and Monte Carlo system response matrix for pinhole SPECT reconstruction. United States. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4866380
Aguiar, Pablo, Pino, Francisco, Silva-Rodríguez, Jesús, Pavía, Javier, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer, CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Ros, Doménec, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer, CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Ruibal, Álvaro, Grupo de Imaxe Molecular, Facultade de Medicina, Fundación Tejerina, Madrid, and others, and. 2014. "Analytical, experimental, and Monte Carlo system response matrix for pinhole SPECT reconstruction". United States. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4866380.
@article{osti_22250941,
title = {Analytical, experimental, and Monte Carlo system response matrix for pinhole SPECT reconstruction},
author = {Aguiar, Pablo and Pino, Francisco and Silva-Rodríguez, Jesús and Pavía, Javier and Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer and CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina and Ros, Doménec and Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pí i Sunyer and CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina and Ruibal, Álvaro and Grupo de Imaxe Molecular, Facultade de Medicina and Fundación Tejerina, Madrid and others, and},
abstractNote = {Purpose: To assess the performance of two approaches to the system response matrix (SRM) calculation in pinhole single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) reconstruction. Methods: Evaluation was performed using experimental data from a low magnification pinhole SPECT system that consisted of a rotating flat detector with a monolithic scintillator crystal. The SRM was computed following two approaches, which were based on Monte Carlo simulations (MC-SRM) and analytical techniques in combination with an experimental characterization (AE-SRM). The spatial response of the system, obtained by using the two approaches, was compared with experimental data. The effect of the MC-SRM and AE-SRM approaches on the reconstructed image was assessed in terms of image contrast, signal-to-noise ratio, image quality, and spatial resolution. To this end, acquisitions were carried out using a hot cylinder phantom (consisting of five fillable rods with diameters of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 mm and a uniform cylindrical chamber) and a custom-made Derenzo phantom, with center-to-center distances between adjacent rods of 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 mm. Results: Good agreement was found for the spatial response of the system between measured data and results derived from MC-SRM and AE-SRM. Only minor differences for point sources at distances smaller than the radius of rotation and large incidence angles were found. Assessment of the effect on the reconstructed image showed a similar contrast for both approaches, with values higher than 0.9 for rod diameters greater than 1 mm and higher than 0.8 for rod diameter of 1 mm. The comparison in terms of image quality showed that all rods in the different sections of a custom-made Derenzo phantom could be distinguished. The spatial resolution (FWHM) was 0.7 mm at iteration 100 using both approaches. The SNR was lower for reconstructed images using MC-SRM than for those reconstructed using AE-SRM, indicating that AE-SRM deals better with the projection noise than MC-SRM. Conclusions: The authors' findings show that both approaches provide good solutions to the problem of calculating the SRM in pinhole SPECT reconstruction. The AE-SRM was faster to create and handle the projection noise better than MC-SRM. Nevertheless, the AE-SRM required a tedious experimental characterization of the intrinsic detector response. Creation of the MC-SRM required longer computation time and handled the projection noise worse than the AE-SRM. Nevertheless, the MC-SRM inherently incorporates extensive modeling of the system and therefore experimental characterization was not required.},
doi = {10.1118/1.4866380},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22250941}, journal = {Medical Physics},
issn = {0094-2405},
number = 3,
volume = 41,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}