Simultaneous Tc-99m/I-123 dual-radionuclide myocardial perfusion/ innervation imaging using Siemens IQ-SPECT with SMARTZOOM collimator

Yong Du, Manojeet Bhattacharya, Eric C. Frey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Simultaneous dual-radionuclide myocardial perfusion/innervation SPECT imaging can provide important information about the mismatch between scar tissue and denervated regions. The Siemens IQ-SPECT system developed for cardiac imaging uses a multifocal SMARTZOOM collimator to achieve a four-fold sensitivity for the cardiac region, compared to a typical parallel-hole low-energy high-resolution collimator, but without the data truncation that can result with conventional converging-beam collimators. The increased sensitivity allows shorter image acquisition times or reduced patient dose, making IQ-SPECT ideal for simultaneous dual-radionuclide SPECT, where reduced administrated activity is desirable in order to reduce patient radiation exposure. However, crosstalk is a major factor affecting the image quality in dual-radionuclide imaging. In this work we developed a model-based method that can estimate and compensate for the crosstalk in IQ-SPECT data. The crosstalk model takes into account interactions in the object and collimator-detector system. Scatter in the object was modeled using the effective source scatter estimation technique (ESSE), previously developed to model scatter with parallel-hole collimators. The geometric collimator-detector response was analytically modeled in the IQ-SPECT projector. The estimated crosstalk was then compensated for in an iterative reconstruction process. The new method was validated with data from both Monte Carlo simulations and physical phantom experiments. The results showed that the estimated crosstalk was in good agreement with simulated and measured results. After model-based compensation the images from simultaneous dual-radionuclide acquisitions were similar in quality to those from single-radionuclide acquisitions that did not have crosstalk contamination. The proposed model-based method can be used to improve simultaneous dual-radionuclide images acquired using IQ-SPECT. This work also demonstrates that ESSE scatter modeling can be applied to non-parallel-beam projection geometries.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2813-2828
Number of pages16
JournalPhysics in medicine and biology
Volume59
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 7 2014

Keywords

  • myocardial innervation
  • myocardial perfusion
  • simultaneous dual-radionuclide SPECT

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

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