PET and SPECT performance of the Siemens HD3 e.camduet® : a 1" Na(I) hybrid camera

Siemens has recently developed a new PET/SPECT dual head camera, the e.cam^duet®. This camera employs two HD3 detectors with 1" thick Na(I) segmented crystals. This design, relatively new for Na(I), is aimed at increasing the stopping power for 511 keV γ rays, while maintaining good spatial resolution for SPECT. The PET performance of this camera was evaluated using the new NEMA NU2-2001 specifications. The effect of the thicker crystal on the camera\´s performance in the single photon acquisition mode was assessed by comparing its resolution and sensitivity to that obtained with a standard gamma camera with a 3/8" crystal. The Siemens exam was selected for this purpose as it is a very similar dual-head variable-angle system with several hardware and software elements identical to the e.cam^duet® camera.