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Positional single photon incidence response (P-SPIR) theory is researched in this paper to generate more accurate PSF-contained system matrix simply and quickly. The method has been proved highly effective to improve the spatial resolution by applying to the Eplus-260 primate PET designed by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(IHEP). Simultaneously, to meet the clinical needs, GPU acceleration is put to use. Basically, P-SPIR theory takes both incidence angle and incidence position by crystal subdivision instead of only incidence angle into consideration based on Geant4 Application for Emission Tomography (GATE). The simulation conforms to the actual response distribution and can be completed rapidly within less than 1s. Furthermore,two-block penetration and normalization of the response probability are raised to fit the reality. With PSF obtained, the homogenization model is analyzed to calculate the spread distribution of bins within a few minutes for system matrix generation. As a reult, The images reconstructed indicate that the P-SPIR method can effectively inhibit the depth of interaction (DOI) effect especially in the field close to the edge of the field of view (FOV). What is more, the method can be promoted to any other PET and the list-mode organization structure high-speedily and efficiently, which substantially reduces the computing cost and ensures the accuracy of system matrix for PET reconstruction., Comment: 6 pages,12 figures

Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) imaging systems with the ability in detection of millimeter-sized tumors were developed in recent years. And some of them have been well used in clinical applications. In consideration of biopsy application, a double-plane detector configuration is practical for the convenience of breast immobilization. However, the serious blurring effect in the double-plane system with changeable spacing for different breast size should be studied. Methods: We study a high resolution reconstruction method applicable for a double-plane PET system with a changeable detector spacing. Geometric and blurring components should be calculated at real time for different detector distance. Accurate geometric sensitivity is obtained with a tube area model. Resolution recovery is achieved by estimating blurring effects derived from simulated single gamma response information. Results: The results show that the new geometric modeling gives a more finite and smooth sensitivity weight in double-plane system. The blurring component yields contrast recovery levels that could not be reached without blurring modeling, as well as better visual recovery of the smallest spheres and better delineation of the structures in the reconstructed images. Statistical noise has lower variance at the voxel level with blurring modeling than without at matched resolution. Conclusion: In the distance-changeable double-plane PET, the finite resolution modeling during reconstruction achieves resolution recovery, without noise amplification.

Positron Emission Mammography imaging system (PEMi) is a nuclear medicine diagnosis method dedicated for breast imaging. It provides a better resolution in detection of millimeter-sized breast tumors than whole-body PET. To address the requirement of semi-quantitative analysis with the radiotracer concentration map of the breast, a new attenuation correction method based on three-dimensional seeded region growing image segmentation (3DSRG-AC) solution was developed. The method gives a 3D connected region as the segmentation result instead of image slices. The continuously segmentation property makes this new method free of activity variation of breast tissues. Threshold value chosen is the key point for the segmentation process. The first valley of the grey level histogram of the reconstruction image is set as the lower threshold, which works fine in clinical application. Results show that attenuation correction for PEMi improves the image quality and the quantitative accuracy of radioactivity distribution determination. Attenuation correction also improves the probabilities to detect small and early breast tumors.

In scintillation detector, scintillation crystals are typically made into 2-dimension modular array. The location of incident gamma-ray need be calibrated due to spatial response nonlinearity. Generally, position histograms, the characteristic flood response of scintillation detectors, are used for position calibration. In this paper, a position calibration method based on crystal position lookup table which maps the inaccurate location calculated by Anger logic to the exact hitting crystal position has been proposed, Firstly, position histogram is segmented into disconnected regions. Then crystal marking points are labeled by finding the centroids of regions. Finally, crystal boundaries are determined and crystal position lookup table is generated. The scheme is evaluated by the whole-body PET scanner and breast dedicated SPECT detector developed by Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results demonstrate that the algorithm is accurate, efficient, robust and general purpose., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures