Preliminary monte carlo study of 18F-FDG SPECT imaging with LaBr3:Ce Crystal-based Gamma Cameras

The utility of ¹⁸F-deoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) in oncology, cardiology, and neurology has generated great interest in a more economical ways of imaging ¹⁸F-FDG than conventional PET scanners. The main thrust of this work is to investigate the potential use of LaBr₃:Ce materials in a low-cost FDG-SPECT system compared to NaI(Tl) using GATE Monte Carlo simulation. System performance at 140 keV and 511 keV was assessed using energy spectra, system sensitivity and count rate performance. Comparison of the LaBr₃:Ce and NaI(Tl) crystal-based systems showed 4.5% and 8.9% higher system sensitivity for the LaBr₃:Ce at 140 keV and 511 keV, respectively. The LaBr₃:Ce scintillator significantly improves intrinsic count rate performance due to its fast decay time with respect to NaI(Tl). In conclusion, because LaBr₃:Ce crystal combines excellent intrinsic count rate performance with slightly increased system sensitivity, it has the potential to be used for ¹⁸F-FDG -SPECT systems.