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This Article Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Wong, W.-H. Articles by Wang, C. PubMed Articles by Wong, W.-H. Articles by Wang, C.

Feasibility studies of an affordable high-resolution 1-meter long PET

¹ Experimental Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

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Objectives: This study investigated the feasibility of an affordable high-resolution Entire-Body PET (EB-PET) for imaging head-torso in one fixed bed position, which may reduce FDG entire-body (EB) scan time, unshackle EB PET imaging from static FDG-type tracers to dynamic tracers, and allow continuous EB dynamic acquisition to obtain EB rate-constant images without arterial sampling.

Methods: We used Monte Carlo (MC) simulations (GATE) driven by our experimental detector data. With low-cost BGO crystals, we can decode 121 (100) crystals/PMT with 39-mm (28-mm) PMT to achieve a high resolution 3.5-mm (2.8-mm) crystal pitch with energy resolution of 15%, while using only 1768 (3430) PMT. The system resolution and NES were calculated for point sources, NEMA NES phantom and Turkington body phantom.

Results: MC studies showed that EB-PET may image a wholebody in 3-4 minutes with a 2-mCi FDG dose. This dose reduction reduces the detector singles rate by 5X, thereby reducing detector dead-time by 5X and accidental rates by 25X, which are needed in a long PET. Using the 3.5-mm detector pitch, the central transaxial image resolution is 3.2mm (4.4mm) for 5 cross-ring coincidences (274 cross-ring coincidences), and at 10-cm off-axis, the image resolution is 4.2mm (5.1mm).

Conclusions: Short scan time and lower dose may lower patient cost, improve comfort, reduce patient-movement artifacts and improve CT co-registration. Lower dose and cost facilitate frequent cancer-management monitoring and cancer screening. Capturing EB time-activity and arterial/cardiac input concurrently can yield quantitative EB metabolic images to improve diagnosis and to measure EB systemic side effects of therapy. Dynamic EB imaging opens up wholebody PET imaging to dynamic tracers (not feasible now due to bed movement).

This Article Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Wong, W.-H. Articles by Wang, C. PubMed Articles by Wong, W.-H. Articles by Wang, C.