VECTor: A Preclinical Imaging System for Simultaneous Submillimeter SPECT and PET

Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Rob Kreuger¹  J. Peter H. Burbach¹  Jan Booij¹  Brendan Vastenhouw¹  Marlies C. Goorden¹  Freek J. Beekman¹  Frans van der Have¹  Carla F.M. Molthoff¹  Ruud M. Ramakers¹ 

关键词: pinhole;    SPECT;    PET;    small-animal;    molecular imaging;    neuroimaging;    cardiac imaging;   

DOI  :  10.2967/jnumed.112.109538

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Society of Nuclear Medicine

【 摘 要 】

Today, PET and SPECT tracers cannot be imaged simultaneously at high resolutions but require 2 separate imaging systems. This paper introduces a Versatile Emission Computed Tomography system (VECTor) for radionuclides that enables simultaneous submillimeter imaging of single-photon and positron-emitting radiolabeled molecules. Methods: γ-photons produced both by electron–positron annihilation and by single-photon emitters are projected onto the same detectors by means of a novel cylindric high-energy collimator containing 162 narrow pinholes that are grouped in clusters. This collimator is placed in an existing SPECT system (U-SPECT-II) with 3 large-field-of-view γ-detectors. From the acquired projections, PET and SPECT images are obtained using statistical image reconstruction that corrects for energy-dependent system blurring. Results: For PET tracers, the tomographic resolution obtained with a Jaszczak hot rod phantom was less than 0.8 mm, and 0.5-mm resolution images of SPECT tracers were acquired simultaneously. SPECT images were barely degraded by the simultaneous presence of a PET tracer, even when the activity concentration of the PET tracer exceeded that of the SPECT tracer by up to a factor of 2.5. Furthermore, we simultaneously acquired fully registered 3- and 4-dimensional multiple functional images from living mice that, in the past, could be obtained only sequentially. Conclusion: High-resolution complementary information about tissue function contained in SPECT and PET tracer distributions can now be obtained simultaneously using a fully integrated imaging device. These combined unique capabilities pave the way for new perspectives in imaging the biologic systems of rodents.

【 授权许可】

Unknown