NEMA NU 4-2008 validation and applications of the PET-SORTEO Monte Carlo simulations platform for the geometry of the Inveon PET preclinical scanner

Abstract

Monte Carlo-based simulation of positron emission tomography (PET) data plays a key role in the design and optimization of data correction and processing methods. Our first aim was to adapt and configure the PET-SORTEO Monte Carlo simulation program for the geometry of the widely distributed Inveon PET preclinical scanner manufactured by Siemens Preclinical Solutions. The validation was carried out against actual measurements performed on the Inveon PET scanner at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation in Australia and at the Brain & Mind Research Institute and by strictly following the NEMA NU 4-2008 standard. The comparison of simulated and experimental performance measurements included spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction and count rates, image quality and Derenzo phantom studies. Results showed that PET-SORTEO reliably reproduces the performances of this Inveon preclinical system. In addition, imaging studies showed that the PET-SORTEO simulation program provides raw data for the Inveon scanner that can be fully corrected and reconstructed using the same programs as for the actual data. All correction techniques (attenuation, scatter, randoms, dead-time, and normalization) can be applied on the simulated data leading to fully quantitative reconstructed images. In the second part of the study, we demonstrated its ability to generate fast and realistic biological studies. PET-SORTEO is a workable and reliable tool that can be used, in a classical way, to validate and/or optimize a single PET data processing step such as a reconstruction method. However, we demonstrated that by combining a realistic simulated biological study ([(11)C]Raclopride here) involving different condition groups, simulation allows one also to assess and optimize the data correction, reconstruction and data processing line flow as a whole, specifically for each biological study, which is our ultimate intent.

Performance evaluation of the small-animal PET scanner ClairvivoPET using NEMA NU 4-2008 Standards

“…The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU 4-2008 standards provide a standardized methodology for evaluating the performance of small animal PET scanners in terms of sensitivity, spatial resolution, scatter fraction, count-rates performance, and image quality (NEMA 2008). Several investigators have evaluated the performance of small animal PET scanners using NEMA NU 4 Standards, including the Inveon (Bao et al 2009, Disselhorst et al 2010, Boisson et al 2013, microPET R4 (Popota et al 2012), FLEX Triumph X-PET (Prasad et al 2010), nanoPET/CT (Szanda et al 2011), nanoPET/MRI (Nagy et al 2013), LabPET (Bergeron et al 2014), MuPET (Wong et al 2012), PETbox4 (Gu et al 2013), Trans-PET BioCaliburn LH (Wang et al 2015), and Albia Trimodal PET/SPECT/CT (Spinks et al 2014). Recently, a mammograph PET scanner was also evaluated based on NEMA NU 4-2008 (Miyake et al 2014).…”

Fast and accurate generation method of PSF-based system matrix for PET reconstruction

“…The Derenzo phantom [24,25] was measured on the Eplus-260 Primate PET system. 18 F was used with a total activity of 0.8 mCi.…”

Recovering the triple coincidence of non-pure positron emitters in preclinical PET

“…A GATE (GEANT4 application for tomographic emission) Monte Carlo simulation tool (Jan et al 2004) combined with a SimSET multiple photon history generator (Lin et al 2014) was used to study the recuperating effect of the true LOR from the triple coincidence. A Monte Carlo simulation model for the Inveon preclinical PET scanner (Constantinescu and Mukherjee 2009) was developed (Boisson et al 2013). The scanner geometry consists of four annulus with 64 detector modules each coupled to a 20 × 20 array of 1.51 mm × 1.51 mm × 10 mm LSO crystals resulting in 80 rings with 320 elements.…”