High sensitivity, total body PET scanning using 3D data acquisition and reconstruction

A suitable 3-D total body scanning protocol is developed and compared with the standard 2-D clinical protocol using phantom data. An extension of the 3-D protocol to maximize sensitivity, axial sampling, and noise uniformity is proposed for future scanners. By combining 3-D data acquisition and reconstruction with a quasi-continuous axial bed motion, gains in signal-to-noise (S/N) of around 2 can be achieved for typical whole body activity concentrations. S/N uniformity was also considerably improved. Some of the hardware requirements for implementing 3-D total body positron emission tomography (PET) are also discussed. Two examples showing a comparison of 2-D and 3-D extended axial length PET scans in a human subject and in a monkey are presented