• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.29-37
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• 2019

Purpose DMIDR(Discovery Molecular Imaging Digital Ready, General Electric Healthcare, USA) is a PET/CT scanner designed to allow application of PSF(Point Spread Function), TOF(Time of Flight) and Q.Clear algorithm. Especially, Q.Clear is a reconstruction algorithm which can overcome the limitation of OSEM(Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization) and reduce the image noise based on voxel unit. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of reconstruction algorithms and optimize the algorithm combination to improve the accurate SUV(Standardized Uptake Value) measurement and lesion detectability. Materials and Methods PET phantom was filled with $^{18}F-FDG$ radioactivity concentration ratio of hot to background was in a ratio of 2:1, 4:1 and 8:1. Scan was performed using the NEMA protocols. Scan data was reconstructed using combination of (1)VPFX(VUE point FX(TOF)), (2)VPHD-S(VUE Point HD+PSF), (3)VPFX-S (TOF+PSF), (4)QCHD-S-400((VUE Point HD+Q.Clear(${\beta}-strength$ 400)+PSF), (5)QCFX-S-400(TOF +Q.Clear(${\beta}-strength$ 400)+PSF), (6)QCHD-S-50(VUE Point HD+Q.Clear(${\beta}-strength$ 50)+PSF) and (7)QCFX-S-50(TOF+Q.Clear(${\beta}-strength$ 50)+PSF). CR(Contrast Recovery) and BV(Background Variability) were compared. Also, SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) and RC(Recovery Coefficient) of counts and SUV were compared respectively. Results VPFX-S showed the highest CR value in sphere size of 10 and 13 mm, and QCFX-S-50 showed the highest value in spheres greater than 17 mm. In comparison of BV and SNR, QCFX-S-400 and QCHD-S-400 showed good results. The results of SUV measurement were proportional to the H/B ratio. RC for SUV is in inverse proportion to the H/B ratio and QCFX-S-50 showed highest value. In addition, reconstruction algorithm of Q.Clear using 400 of ${\beta}-strength$ showed lower value. Conclusion When higher ${\beta}-strength$ was applied Q.Clear showed better image quality by reducing the noise. On the contrary, lower ${\beta}-strength$ was applied Q.Clear showed that sharpness increase and PVE(Partial Volume Effect) decrease, so it is possible to measure SUV based on high RC comparing to conventional reconstruction conditions. An appropriate choice of these reconstruction algorithm can improve the accuracy and lesion detectability. In this reason, it is necessary to optimize the algorithm parameter according to the purpose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2020

The standard uptake values (SUVs) strongly depend on positron emission tomographs (PETs) and image reconstruction methods. Various image reconstruction algorithms in GE Discovery MIDR (DMIDR) and Discovery Ste (DSte) installed at Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul Samsung Medical Center were applied to measure the SUVs in an anthropomorphic torso phantom. The measured SUVs in the heart, liver, and background were compared to the actual SUVs. Applied image reconstruction algorithms were VPFX-S (TOF+PSF), QCFX-S-350 (Q.Clear+TOF+PSF), QCFX-S-50, VPHD-S (OSEM+PSF) for DMIDR, and VUE Point (OSEM) and FORE-FBP for DSte. To reduce the radiation exposure to radiation technologists, only the small amount of radiation source ¹⁸F-FDG was mixed with the distilled water: 2.28 MBq in the 52.5 ml heart, 20.3 MBq in the 1,290 ml liver and 45.7 MBq for the 9,590 ml in the background region. SUV values in the heart with the algorithms of VPFX-S, QCFX-S-350, QCFX-S-50, VPHD-S, VUE Point, and FOR-FBP were 27.1, 28.0, 27.1, 26.5, 8.0, and 7.4 with the expected SUV of 5.9, and in the background 4.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.1, 1.1, and 1.2 with the expected SUV of 0.8, respectively. Although the SUVs in each region were different for the six reconstruction algorithms in two PET/CTs, the SUV ratios between heart and background were found to be relatively consistent; 6.5, 6.8, 6.5, 6.5, 7.3, and 6.2 for the six reconstruction algorithms with the expected ratio of 7.8, respectively. Mean SNRs (Signal to Noise Ratios) in the heart were 8.3, 12.8, 8.3, 8.4, 17.2, and 16.6, respectively. In conclusion, the performance of PETs may be checked by using with the SUV ratios between two regions and a relatively small amount of radioactivity.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.111-127
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• 2023

Purpose: Gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga) is increasingly used in nuclear medicine imaging for various conditions such as lymphoma and neuroendocrine tumors by labeling tracers like Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and DOTA-TOC. However, compared to Fluorine-18 (¹⁸F) used in conventional nuclear medicine imaging, ⁶⁸Ga has lower spatial resolution and relatively higher Signal to Background Ratio (SBR). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the optimized parameters and reconstruction methods for PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer through model-based image evaluation. Materials and Methods: Based on clinical images of ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET/CT, a NEMA/IEC 2008 PET phantom model was prepared with a Hot vs Background (H/B) ratio of 10:1. Images were acquired for 9 minutes in list mode using DMIDR (GE, Milwaukee WI, USA). Subsequently, reconstructions were performed for 1 to 8 minutes using OS-EM (Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization) + TOF (Time of Flight) + Sharp IR (VPFX-S), and BSREM (Block Sequential Regularized Expectation Maximization) + TOF + Sharp IR (QCFX-S-400), followed by comparative evaluation. Based on the previous experimental results, images were reconstructed for BSREM + TOF + Sharp IR / 2 minutes (QCFX-S-2min) with varying β-strength values from 100 to 700. The image quality was evaluated using AMIDE (freeware, Ver.1.0.1) and Advanced Workstation (GE, USA). Results: Images reconstructed with QCFX-S-400 showed relatively higher values for SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), CNR (Contrast to Noise Ratio), count, RC (Recovery Coefficient), and SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) compared to VPFX-S. SNR, CNR, and SUV exhibited the highest values at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. RC showed the highest values for a 10 mm sphere at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. For small spheres of 10 mm and 13 mm, an inverse relationship between β-strength increase and count was observed. SNR and CNR peaked at β-strength 400 and then decreased, while SUV and RC exhibited a normal distribution based on sphere size for β-strength values of 400 and above. Conclusion: Based on the experiments, PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer yielded the most favorable quantitative and qualitative results with a 2 minutes/bed acquisition time and BSREM reconstruction, particularly when applying β-strength 400. The application of BSREM can enhance accurate quantification and image quality in ⁶⁸Ga PET/CT imaging, and an optimization process tailored to each institution's imaging objectives appears necessary.