Ran Klein1,2, Robert A deKemp3,4. 1. Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. 2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada. 3. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. radekemp@ottawaheart.ca. 4. National Cardiac PET Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin St, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada. radekemp@ottawaheart.ca.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: PET scanner design and performance evaluation has been driven historically by the imaging requirements for whole-body imaging in oncology. Cardiac PET imaging for accurate quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) using short-lived tracers such as rubidium-82 imposes additional requirements for wide dynamic range and high count-rate accuracy. This paper examines the technical challenges encountered in cardiac imaging of myocardial perfusion and blood flow quantification. RECENT FINDINGS: The newest PET-CT scanners using digital silicon photomultiplier technology have high absolute sensitivity (4-20%) and time-of-flight resolution (3-7 cm) which further improves image quality. The concept of "integral" noise equivalent counts (iNEC) is introduced to compare scanner count-rate performance over the wide dynamic range encountered in MBF imaging with rubidium-82. The latest-generation digital PET scanners with wide axial field-of-view and enhanced time-of-flight resolution should enable accurate quantification of MBF, without any compromise in the quality of conventional ECG-gated myocardial perfusion images.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: PET scanner design and performance evaluation has been driven historically by the imaging requirements for whole-body imaging in oncology. Cardiac PET imaging for accurate quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) using short-lived tracers such as rubidium-82 imposes additional requirements for wide dynamic range and high count-rate accuracy. This paper examines the technical challenges encountered in cardiac imaging of myocardial perfusion and blood flow quantification. RECENT FINDINGS: The newest PET-CT scanners using digital silicon photomultiplier technology have high absolute sensitivity (4-20%) and time-of-flight resolution (3-7 cm) which further improves image quality. The concept of "integral" noise equivalent counts (iNEC) is introduced to compare scanner count-rate performance over the wide dynamic range encountered in MBF imaging with rubidium-82. The latest-generation digital PET scanners with wide axial field-of-view and enhanced time-of-flight resolution should enable accurate quantification of MBF, without any compromise in the quality of conventional ECG-gated myocardial perfusion images.