Speaker
Description
Brain Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging provides functional assessment of different physiological and pathophysiological processes in the human brain. It can therefore be used to evaluate tumors, infections, inflammation, and various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer or Parkinson, among others. The combination of PET with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) enhances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying normal brain function and neurological disorders.
In this work, we have constructed and evaluated a new PET insert for brain imaging, named DeepBrain. The system is based on curved monolithic scintillation crystals and an edgeless geometry. The 2D annihilation impact coordinates were estimated using neural networks, and the energy and depth of interaction values were calibrated using a Voronoi-based approach. We report the system’s performance and its compatibility with a 3T MRI system.
An average spatial resolution of 1.9 ± 0.1 mm, 2.0 ± 0.1 mm, and 1.5 ± 0.1 mm FWHM was achieved at the center of the axial Field of View (FOV) for the radial, tangential, and axial directions, respectively, after correcting for parallax errors. A maximum sensitivity value of 1.5% was measured at the center of the FOV. The noise equivalent count rate peak reached 43 kcps at 1.7 mCi. Small differences were measured in the percent contrast and background variabilities for a dedicated image quality phantom when running a variety of pulse sequences in the 3T MRI. The next steps are implementing scatter and quantification corrections and the development of a dedicated RF coil.
| Track | PSMR |
|---|---|
| Presentation type | Oral |