|   | 
Details
   web
Records
Author Cabello, J.; Rafecas, M.
Title Comparison of basis functions for 3D PET reconstruction using a Monte Carlo system matrix Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2012 Publication Physics in Medicine and Biology Abbreviated Journal Phys. Med. Biol.
Volume 57 Issue 7 Pages 1759-1777
Keywords
Abstract In emission tomography, iterative statistical methods are accepted as the reconstruction algorithms that achieve the best image quality. The accuracy of these methods relies partly on the quality of the system response matrix (SRM) that characterizes the scanner. The more physical phenomena included in the SRM, the higher the SRM quality, and therefore higher image quality is obtained from the reconstruction process. High-resolution small animal scanners contain as many as 10(3)-10(4) small crystal pairs, while the field of view (FOV) is divided into hundreds of thousands of small voxels. These two characteristics have a significant impact on the number of elements to be calculated in the SRM. Monte Carlo (MC) methods have gained popularity as a way of calculating the SRM, due to the increased accuracy achievable, at the cost of introducing some statistical noise and long simulation times. In the work presented here the SRM is calculated using MC methods exploiting the cylindrical symmetries of the scanner, significantly reducing the simulation time necessary to calculate a high statistical quality SRM and the storage space necessary. The use of cylindrical symmetries makes polar voxels a convenient basis function. Alternatively, spherically symmetric basis functions result in improved noise properties compared to cubic and polar basis functions. The quality of reconstructed images using polar voxels, spherically symmetric basis functions on a polar grid, cubic voxels and post-reconstruction filtered polar and cubic voxels is compared from a noise and spatial resolution perspective. This study demonstrates that polar voxels perform as well as cubic voxels, reducing the simulation time necessary to calculate the SRM and the disk space necessary to store it. Results showed that spherically symmetric functions outperform polar and cubic basis functions in terms of noise properties, at the cost of slightly degraded spatial resolution, larger SRM file size and longer reconstruction times. However, we demonstrate that post-reconstruction smoothing, usually applied in emission imaging to reduce the level of noise, can produce a spatial resolution degradation of similar to 50%, while spherically symmetric basis functions produce a degradation of only similar to 6%, compared to polar and cubic voxels, at the same noise level. Therefore, the image quality trade-off obtained with blobs is higher than that obtained with cubic or polar voxels.
Address [Cabello, Jorge; Rafecas, Magdalena] Univ Valencia, Inst Fis Corpuscular, CSIC, Valencia, Spain, Email: jorge.cabello@ific.uv.es
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Iop Publishing Ltd Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0031-9155 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000302121000004 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration no
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 955
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Bolle, E.; Casella, C.; Chesi, E.; De Leo, R.; Dissertori, G.; Fanti, V.; Gillam, J.E.; Heller, M.; Joram, C.; Lustermann, W.; Nappi, E.; Oliver, J.F.; Pauss, F.; Rafecas, M.; Rudge, A.; Ruotsalainen, U.; Schinzel, D.; Schneider, T.; Seguinot, J.; Solevi, P.; Stapnes, S.; Tuna, U.; Weilhammer, P.
Title AX-PET: A novel PET concept with G-APD readout Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2012 Publication Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A Abbreviated Journal Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A
Volume 695 Issue Pages 129-134
Keywords PET; Axial geometry; Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo Diodes (G-APD); SiPM
Abstract The AX-PET collaboration has developed a novel concept for high resolution PET imaging to overcome some of the performance limitations of classical PET cameras, in particular the compromise between spatial resolution and sensitivity introduced by the parallax error. The detector consists of an arrangement of long LYSO scintillating crystals axially oriented around the field of view together with arrays of wave length shifter strips orthogonal to the crystals. This matrix allows a precise 3D measurement of the photon interaction point. This is valid both for photoelectric absorption at 511 key and for Compton scattering down to deposited energies of about 100 keV. Crystals and WLS strips are individually read out using Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo Diodes (G-APDs). The sensitivity of such a detector can be adjusted by changing the number of layers and the resolution is defined by the crystal and strip dimensions. Two AX-PET modules were built and fully characterized in dedicated test set-ups at CERN, with point-like Na-22 sources. Their performance in terms of energy (Renew approximate to 11.8% (FWMH) at 511 key) and spatial resolution was assessed (sigma(axial) approximate to 0.65 mm), both individually and for the two modules in coincidence. Test campaigns at ETH Zurich and at the company AAA allowed the tomographic reconstructions of more complex phantoms validating the 3D reconstruction algorithms. The concept of the AX-PET modules will be presented together with some characterization results. We describe a count rate model which allows to optimize the planing of the tomographic scans.
Address [Heller, M.; Joram, C.; Schneider, T.; Seguinot, J.] CERN, PH Dept, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Email: Matthieu.Heller@cern.ch
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Elsevier Science Bv Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-9002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000311469900026 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 1236
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Blume, M.; Navab, N.; Rafecas, M.
Title Joint image and motion reconstruction for PET using a B-spline motion model Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2012 Publication Physics in Medicine and Biology Abbreviated Journal Phys. Med. Biol.
Volume 57 Issue 24 Pages 22pp
Keywords
Abstract We present a novel joint image and motion reconstruction method for PET. The method is based on gated data and reconstructs an image together with amotion function. The motion function can be used to transform the reconstructed image to any of the input gates. All available events (from all gates) are used in the reconstruction. The presented method uses a B-spline motion model, together with a novel motion regularization procedure that does not need a regularization parameter (which is usually extremely difficult to adjust). Several image and motion grid levels are used in order to reduce the reconstruction time. In a simulation study, the presented method is compared to a recently proposed joint reconstruction method. While the presented method provides comparable reconstruction quality, it is much easier to use since no regularization parameter has to be chosen. Furthermore, since the B-spline discretization of the motion function depends on fewer parameters than a displacement field, the presented method is considerably faster and consumes less memory than its counterpart. The method is also applied to clinical data, for which a novel purely data-driven gating approach is presented.
Address [Blume, Moritz; Rafecas, Magdalena] Univ Valencia, CSIC, Inst Fis Corpuscular IFIC, E-46071 Valencia, Spain, Email: moritz.blume@fasterplan.com
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Iop Publishing Ltd Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0031-9155 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000312106200009 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 1267
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Beltrame, P. et al; Oliver, J.F.; Rafecas, M.; Solevi, P.
Title The AX-PET demonstrator-Design, construction and characterization Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2011 Publication Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A Abbreviated Journal Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A
Volume 654 Issue 1 Pages 546-559
Keywords PET; Axial geometry; Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo Diodes (G-APD); SiPM
Abstract Axial PET is a novel geometrical concept for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), based on layers of long scintillating crystals axially aligned with the bore axis. The axial coordinate is obtained from arrays of wavelength shifting (WLS) plastic strips placed orthogonally to the crystals. This article describes the design, construction and performance evaluation of a demonstrator set-up which consists of two identical detector modules, used in coincidence. Each module comprises 48 LYSO crystals of 100 mm length and 156 WLS strips. Crystals and strips are readout by Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo Diodes (G-APDs). The signals from the two modules are processed by fully analog front-end electronics and recorded in coincidence by a VME-based data acquisition system. Measurements with point-like (22)Na sources, with the modules used both individually and in coincidence mode, allowed for a complete performance evaluation up to the focal plane reconstruction of point sources. The results obtained are in good agreement with expectations and proved the set-up to be ready for the next evaluation phase with PET phantoms filled with radiotracers.
Address [Casella, C; Dissertori, G; Djambazov, L; Lustermann, W; Nessi-Tedaldi, F; Pauss, F; Renker, D; Schinzel, D] ETH, Inst Particle Phys, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland, Email: Chiara.Casella@cern.ch
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Elsevier Science Bv Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-9002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000295765100078 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 790
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Oliver, J.F.; Rafecas, M.
Title Improving the singles rate method for modeling accidental coincidences in high-resolution PET Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2010 Publication Physics in Medicine and Biology Abbreviated Journal Phys. Med. Biol.
Volume 55 Issue 22 Pages 6951-6971
Keywords
Abstract Random coincidences ('randoms') are one of the main sources of image degradation in PET imaging. In order to correct for this effect, an accurate method to estimate the contribution of random events is necessary. This aspect becomes especially relevant for high-resolution PET scanners where the highest image quality is sought and accurate quantitative analysis is undertaken. One common approach to estimate randoms is the so-called singles rate method (SR) widely used because of its good statistical properties. SR is based on the measurement of the singles rate in each detector element. However, recent studies suggest that SR systematically overestimates the correct random rate. This overestimation can be particularly marked for low energy thresholds, below 250 keV used in some applications and could entail a significant image degradation. In this work, we investigate the performance of SR as a function of the activity, geometry of the source and energy acceptance window used. We also investigate the performance of an alternative method, which we call 'singles trues' (ST) that improves SR by properly modeling the presence of true coincidences in the sample. Nevertheless, in any real data acquisition the knowledge of which singles are members of a true coincidence is lost. Therefore, we propose an iterative method, STi, that provides an estimation based on ST but which only requires the knowledge of measurable quantities: prompts and singles. Due to inter-crystal scatter, for wide energy windows ST only partially corrects SR overestimations. While SR deviations are in the range 86-300% (depending on the source geometry), the ST deviations are systematically smaller and contained in the range 4-60%. STi fails to reproduce the ST results, although for not too high activities the deviation with respect to ST is only a few percent. For conventional energy windows, i.e. those without inter-crystal scatter, the ST method corrects the SR overestimations, and deviations from the true random rate are of the order of 1% or less. In addition, in the case of conventional energy window STi results reproduce ST results and therefore the former can be used to obtain the true random rate.
Address [Oliver, Josep F.; Rafecas, Magdalena] Univ Valencia, CSIC, Inst Fis Corpuscular, IFIC, E-46003 Valencia, Spain, Email: josep.f.oliver@uv.es
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Iop Publishing Ltd Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0031-9155 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes ISI:000283789700025 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration no
Call Number IFIC @ elepoucu @ Serial 344
Permanent link to this record