Evaluation of image quality with four positron emitters and three preclinical PET/CT systems

Abstract

Background We investigated the image quality of 11C, 68Ga, 18F and 89Zr, which have different positron fractions, physical half-lifes and positron ranges. Three small animal positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) systems were used in the evaluation, including the Siemens Inveon, RAYCAN X5 and Molecubes β-cube. The evaluation was performed on a single scanner level using the national electrical manufacturers association (NEMA) image quality phantom and analysis protocol. Acquisitions were performed with the standard NEMA protocol for 18F and using a radionuclide-specific acquisition time for 11C, 68Ga and 89Zr. Images were assessed using percent recovery coefficient (%RC), percentage standard deviation (%STD), image uniformity (%SD), spill-over ratio (SOR) and evaluation of image quantification. Results 68Ga had the lowest %RC (< 62%) across all systems. 18F had the highest maximum %RC (> 85%) and lowest %STD for the 5 mm rod across all systems. For 11C and 89Zr, the maximum %RC was close (> 76%) to the %RC with 18F. A larger SOR were measured in water with 11C and 68Ga compared to 18F on all systems. SOR in air reflected image reconstruction and data correction performance. Large variation in image quantification was observed, with maximal errors of 22.73% (89Zr, Inveon), 17.54% (89Zr, RAYCAN) and − 14.87% (68Ga, Molecubes). Conclusions The systems performed most optimal in terms of NEMA image quality parameters when using 18F, where 11C and 89Zr performed slightly worse than 18F. The performance was least optimal when using 68Ga, due to large positron range. The large quantification differences prompt optimization not only by terms of image quality but also quantification. Further investigation should be performed to find an appropriate calibration and harmonization protocol and the evaluation should be conducted on a multi-scanner and multi-center level.

Design Study of a Novel Positron Emission Tomography System for Plant Imaging

“…The maximal energy of the emitted positrons is approximately 0.634 MeV and 0.960 MeV, respectively. Therefore, we expect different maximal positron ranges of 2.4 mm and 4.2 mm, respectively (Teuho et al, 2020 ). We studied the effects of scattering and positron escape in the different materials.…”

Performance of nanoScan PET/CT and PET/MR for quantitative imaging of 18F and 89Zr as compared with ex vivo biodistribution in tumor-bearing mice

“…This is most probably due to the fact that preclinical PET/MR systems were introduced recently in comparison with single PET and PET/CT scanners. Most studies in the past have estimated the outcome of in vivo studies solely based on the performance of the PET in phantoms which does not always predict the performance in animals [ 14 , 18 , 29 – 31 ].…”

Compensating Positron Range Effects of Ga-68 in Preclinical PET Imaging by Using Convolutional Neural Network: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

“…NEMA performance measurements have been well accepted by the manufacturers, and most major companies now specify their product performance in terms of these standardized and traceable specifications. This approach to performance documentation facilitates quantitative comparison of cameras by the user with the assurance that all reported values are measured in the same way and, therefore, are directly comparable [ 26 , 27 ]. Hence, a modified NEMA protocol was used in this study to evaluate the performance of CNN-based positron range correction in terms of resolution recovery and spill-over.…”