Chiraporn Tocharoenchai

Optimization of acquisition parameters for simultaneous /sup 201/Tl and /sup 99m/Tc dual-isotope myocardial imaging

In /sup 201/Tl//sup 99m/Tc dual-isotope simultaneous-acquisition (DISA) myocardial imaging, crosstalk due to Tc photons results in significant contamination of the Tl data. The objective of this work is to seek the acquisition parameters (i.e., energy window width and center) that have the optimal tradeoff between minimizing the crosstalk and maximizing the detection efficiency. The optimization criterion was based on maximizing an ideal observer signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the myocardial defect detection task using single-isotope and DISA projection images acquired from a torso phantom. For single-isotope images, the optimal energy windows (width/center: 26 keV/75 keV and 28 keV/165 keV for /sup 201/Tl, 30 keV/142 keV for /sup 99m/Tc) are wider than typical windows. For DISA imaging, the optimal windows varied with the /sup 99m/Tc to /sup 201/Tl activity ratio and are thus likely to depend on the uptake ratio in each patient. Using the optimal ratio 2.25-2.75 (148 MBq /sup 201/Tl and 333-407 MBq /sup 99m/Tc) with the corresponding optimal windows (22 keV/72 keV, 24 keV/167 keV, and 24 keV/140 keV) gives /sup 201/Tl images with substantially increased SNRs as well as /sup 99m/Tc images with SNRs same as those of 370 MBq /sup 99m/Tc-only images. However, without the addition of crosstalk compensation, the use of the optimal activity and energy windows alone is likely not sufficient to restore the DISA Tl SNR to that of Tl-only image.

Optimization and evaluation of reconstruction-based compensation methods and reconstruction parameters for Tc-99m MIBI parathyroid SPECT

The value of Tc-99m MIBI parathyroid SPECT for localizing parathyroid hyperplasia in chronic renal failure patients remains inconclusive due to limited image quality. Advanced reconstruction methods to improve image quality have been developed but require optimization and evaluation. The goal of this study was to optimize and evaluate compensation methods and reconstruction parameters for Tc-99m MIBI parathyroid SPECT. A phantom population and projection data that modelled clinically realistic variations found in patients were simulated. The 3D OS-EM reconstruction with compensation for attenuation, detector response and scatter in various combinations were studied. For each compensation, the number of updates for OS-EM and the cutoff frequency of a 3D Butterworth filter were optimized and evaluated using anthropomorphic model observer. With optimal parameters, the method with compensation for attenuation and detector response, with or without the addition of scatter compensation, provided the highest lesion detectability for Tc-99m MIBI parathyroid SPECT.

Imaging of A Single Malignant Osseous Involvement by F-18 NaF PET/CT

Since the introduction of Tc-99m methylene diphosphonate (Tc-99m MDP) for bone imaging in 1971 by Subramanian and McAfee, bone scans have become one of the most widely used investigations in nuclear medicine for malignant osseous involvement. After its introduction by Blau et al in 1962, F-18 NaF was recognized as an excellent radiopharmaceutical for skeletal imaging, several decades before the introduction of the PET system.