Review of SPECT collimator selection, optimization, and fabrication for clinical and preclinical imaging

Journal Article · Sat Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Medical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4927061· OSTI ID:22581325

Van Holen, Roel; Vandenberghe, Stefaan; Vanhove, Christian ^[1]; Metzler, Scott D. ^[2]; Moore, Stephen C. ^[3]

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1. Department of Electronics and Information Systems, MEDISIP-IBiTech, Ghent University–iMinds Medical IT, De Pintelaan 185 block B/5, Ghent B-9000 (Belgium)
2. Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (United States)
3. Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 (United States)

In single photon emission computed tomography, the choice of the collimator has a major impact on the sensitivity and resolution of the system. Traditional parallel-hole and fan-beam collimators used in clinical practice, for example, have a relatively poor sensitivity and subcentimeter spatial resolution, while in small-animal imaging, pinhole collimators are used to obtain submillimeter resolution and multiple pinholes are often combined to increase sensitivity. This paper reviews methods for production, sensitivity maximization, and task-based optimization of collimation for both clinical and preclinical imaging applications. New opportunities for improved collimation are now arising primarily because of (i) new collimator-production techniques and (ii) detectors with improved intrinsic spatial resolution that have recently become available. These new technologies are expected to impact the design of collimators in the future. The authors also discuss concepts like septal penetration, high-resolution applications, multiplexing, sampling completeness, and adaptive systems, and the authors conclude with an example of an optimization study for a parallel-hole, fan-beam, cone-beam, and multiple-pinhole collimator for different applications.

• OSTI ID: 22581325
• Journal Information: Medical Physics, Journal Name: Medical Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 42; ISSN 0094-2405; ISSN MPHYA6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
ANIMALS
BEAMS
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
COLLIMATORS
OPTIMIZATION
PHOTON EMISSION
REVIEWS
SAMPLING
SENSITIVITY
SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
SPATIAL RESOLUTION