Whole gamma imaging: a new concept of PET combined with Compton imaging

Phys Med Biol. 2020 Jun 18;65(12):125013. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ab8e89.

Abstract

We proposed a concept of whole gamma imaging (WGI) that utilizes all detectable gamma rays for imaging. An additional detector ring, which is used as the scatterer, is inserted in the field-of-view of a PET ring so that single gamma rays can be detected by the Compton imaging method. In particular, for the non-pure positron emitters which emit an additional gamma ray almost at the same time, triple gamma imaging will be enabled; localization on each line-of-response (LOR) is possible by using the Compton cone of the additional gamma ray. We developed a prototype to show a proof of the WGI concept. The diameters of scatterer ring and PET ring were set as 20 cm and 66 cm, respectively. For Compton imaging of the 662-keV gamma ray from a 137Cs point source, spatial resolution obtained by the list-mode OSEM algorithm was 4.4 mm FWHM at the 8 cm off-center position and 13.1 mm FWHM at the center position. For PET imaging of a 22Na point source, spatial resolution was about 2 mm FWHM at all positions. For the triple gamma imaging, 5.7 mm FWHM (center) and 4.8 mm FWHM (8 cm off-center) were obtained for the 22Na point source just by plotting the intersecting points between each LOR and each Compton cone of the 1275-keV gamma ray. No image reconstruction was applied. Scandium-44 was produced as a practical candidate of the non-pure positron emitters, and 6.6 mm FWHM (center) and 5.8 mm FWHM (8 cm off-center) were obtained in the same manner. This direct imaging approach which neither requires time-consuming event integration nor iterative image reconstruction may allow in vivo real-time tracking of a tiny amount of activity. Our initial results showed the feasibility of the WGI concept, which is a novel combination of PET and Compton imaging.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Cesium Radioisotopes
  • Electrons
  • Gamma Rays*
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Photons
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Radioisotopes
  • Scandium

Substances

  • Cesium Radioisotopes
  • Radioisotopes
  • Scandium-44
  • Cesium-137
  • Scandium