The ECAT HRRT: performance and first clinical application of the new high resolution research tomograph

Author

Wienhard, K. ; Schmand, M. ; Casey, M.E. ; Baker, K. ; Bao, J. ; Eriksson, L. ; Jones, W.F. ; Knoess, C. ; Lenox, M. ; Lercher, M. ; Luk, P. ; Michel, C. ; Reed, J.H. ; Richerzhagen, N. ; Treffert, J. ; Vollmar, S. ; Young, J.W. ; Heiss, W.D. ; Nutt, R.

Author_Institution

Max-Planck Inst. for Neurological Res., Cologne, Germany

Volume

49

Issue

1

fYear

2002

fDate

2/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

104

Lastpage

110

Abstract

The ECAT HRRT is a three-dimensional (3-D) only dedicated brain tomograph employing the new scintillator lutetium-oxy-orthosilicate (LSO) and using depth of interaction (DOI) information to achieve uniform isotropic resolution across a 20-cm diameter volume. With its unique technological innovations it represents the prototype of a new generation of high-resolution brain tomographs. The physical performance with respect to count rate, live time, scatter, sensitivity, and resolution was evaluated with phantom studies and measurements with a point source. The HRRTs imaging performance was tested with phantoms and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) scans performed in animal and human brains. We find that due to the significantly improved resolution and the large solid angle covered by the panel detectors, several issues that have been adequately solved for older generation scanners demand new attention for the HRRT, like acquiring and handling large amounts of data effectively, strategies for optimal reconstruction, shielding, and correction of random coincidences

Keywords

brain; coincidence techniques; gamma-ray detection; image reconstruction; medical image processing; organic compounds; positron emission tomography; shielding; solid scintillation detectors; ECAT HRRT; FDG; LSO; PET; animal brain; clinical application; count rate; dedicated brain tomograph; fluorodeoxyglucose scans; high-resolution brain tomographs; human brain; imaging performance; interaction depth; large solid angle; live time; lutetium-oxy-orthosilicate scintillator; new high resolution research tomograph; optimal reconstruction; panel detectors; phantom studies; phoswitch detector; point source; positron emission tomography; random coincidence correction; scatter; sensitivity; shielding; uniform isotropic resolution; Animals; High-resolution imaging; Humans; Imaging phantoms; Performance evaluation; Prototypes; Scattering; Technological innovation; Testing; Time measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2002.998689

Filename

998689