Research ArticleClinical Investigations

Compared Performance of High-Sensitivity Cameras Dedicated to Myocardial Perfusion SPECT: A Comprehensive Analysis of Phantom and Human Images

Laetitia Imbert, Sylvain Poussier, Philippe R. Franken, Bernard Songy, Antoine Verger, Olivier Morel, Didier Wolf, Alain Noel, Gilles Karcher and Pierre-Yves Marie
Journal of Nuclear Medicine December 2012, 53 (12) 1897-1903; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.112.107417

Article Figures & Data

Figures

  • FIGURE 1.
    FIGURE 1.

    Images of cardiac phantom provided by CT and by DSPECT camera, as well as representation of background (blue) and myocardial (yellow) regions of interest, which were used for determining contrast-to-noise ratio.

  • FIGURE 2.
    FIGURE 2.

    Example, on median short-axis slice, of determination of maximal slope of epicardial border of left lateral wall, representing sharpness index. Distance is expressed in centimeters, and voxel intensity is expressed in percentage of maximal myocardial voxel value.

  • FIGURE 3.
    FIGURE 3.

    Comparison of the 4 cameras. Count sensitivity was determined for phantom (top left) and indirectly assessed for human (top right) SPECT images by normalizing counts to recording time and injected activity. Spatial resolution was determined for phantom insert (middle left) and indirectly assessed for human (middle right) SPECT images using sharpness index for myocardial contours. Contrast-to-noise ratio was determined for phantom (bottom left) and human (bottom right) SPECT images. Conv = conventional SPECT; DSP = DSPECT; IQ = IQ⋅SPECT; NM = Discovery NM 530c; c = central resolution; r = radial resolution; t = tangential resolution.

  • FIGURE 4.
    FIGURE 4.

    Representative SPECT images obtained with 4 different cameras: with phantom after simulation of small parietal defect (insertion of small solid cube 15 mm in length) (left) and in subjects involved in clinical part of study (right).

Tables

  • TABLE 1

    Parameters Commonly Used for SPECT Recording and Reconstruction

    ParameterDiscovery NM 530cDSPECTIQ⋅SPECTConventional SPECT
    Recording
     CollimatorMultipinholeWide-angle parallel holeAstigmaticLEHR or parallel hole
     Energy window140 keV ± 10%140 keV ± 10%140 keV ± 7.5%140 keV ± 7.5%
     Number of projections19120 (×9 blocks)17 (×2 heads)16 (×2 heads)
     Detector angle between consecutive projectionsNone (fixed detector)0.4°–7°*6°3°
    Reconstruction
     MethodIterative 3DIterative 3DIterative 3DIterative 3D
     Number of iterations607108
     Number of subsets13234
     Interiteration filter—Kernel (0.125)——
     Final filterButterworth (order, 7; cutoff, 0.37 cm−1)Normalizing filter†Gaussian (10 mm FWHM)Gaussian (10 mm FWHM)
     Pixel size (mm)4.04.924.86.6

    • ↵* Angles are approximately 0.4° for projections passing through cardiac region (as defined by adjusted region of interest on prescan images) and up to 7° for other projections.

    • ↵† Way in which normalizing filter works is proprietary information of Spectrum Dynamics.

    • LEHR = low-energy high-resolution; 3D = 3-dimensional; FWHM = full width at half maximum.

  • TABLE 2

    Main Characteristics of the 4 Camera Groups Involved in Clinical Study

    CharacteristicDiscovery NM 530cDSPECTIQ⋅SPECTConventional SPECT
    Number of subjects12121212
    Age (y)53 ± 1056 ± 1053 ± 857 ± 7
    Body weight (kg)80 ± 1080 ± 784 ± 1383 ± 13
    Study protocol1-d stress–rest1-d stress–rest1-d stress–rest1-d rest–stress
    TracerSestamibiSestamibiSestamibiSestamibi
    Activity injected at exercise (MBq)*132 ± 22168 ± 62318 ± 341,073 ± 177
    Maximal heart rate at exercise (%†)93 ± 895 ± 491 ± 791 ± 4
    Recording time (min)1064.516
    Patient positionProneSemirecliningProneSupine
    Total myocardial counts (×103)447 ± 96625 ± 198214 ± 601,019 ± 190

    • ↵* Corrected for physical decay at half-time of SPECT recording.

    • ↵† Expressed in percentage of maximal predicted value (220 – age).

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