PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - BAILLY, Matthieu
AU  - MERMAN, Michal
AU  - LE ROUZIC, Gilles
AU  - METRARD, Gilles
TI  - Dopamine transporter imaging using 3D-ring CZT StarGuide SPECT/CT: first phantom and clinical results
DP  - 2021 May 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 1126--1126
VI  - 62
IP  - supplement 1
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/62/supplement_1/1126.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/62/supplement_1/1126.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2021 May 01; 62
AB  - 1126Aim: Dopamine transporter imaging with 123I-DaTSCAN is an established diagnostic tool in parkinsonism and dementia. StarGuide is a hybrid SPECT/CT Digital 3D imaging system, utilizing 12 CZT detectors in a ring design. This system enable acquisition closer to the patient and also focused scanning modes. In this preliminary work, we compared the new StarGuide 360-degree CZT SPECT/CT system (GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) to a conventional camera in both phantom and patients. Methods: An anthropomorphic striatal phantom filled with 123I solution at a normal striatum-to-background radioactivity ratio (8:1) was acquired on a conventional camera (Discovery 670, GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) and on the new StarGuide CZT system without focus and with skull and striata focus. Focus mode consisted of detectors collecting 80% of data in a reduced field-of-view, defined before the acquisition. 5 patients (4 men and 1 woman, age range 27 - 87 years, mean 64.5 years) were double scanned, on the conventional and the new CZT system with focus on striata, 3 hours after mean injection of 120.4 MBq of 123I-DaTSCAN. Acquisition durations were 24min and 20min on the conventional and StarGuide systems. Data were visually analyzed by 3 board-certified Nuclear Medicine Physicians to score final diagnosis, image quality and resolution using a 5-point Likert scale. Striatal Binding Ratios (SBR) were calculated using DaTQUANT (GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) for each putamen and caudate (right and left), and each striatum. Results: In both phantom experiments and patients, image quality and resolution scores were visually assessed as superior to conventional technology for the 3 raters. Using a 5-point Likert scale, StarGuide mean image quality and resolution were 4.8 out of 5 for patient data. SBR was significantly higher using StarGuide (p=0.01). Considering each region as a separate SBR, mean patients SBR were 2.61 +/-0.9 and 2.86 +/-0.9 respectively for conventional and 3D-ring CZT systems; mean SBR calculated from normal phantom was 4.51 and 4.81 for conventional and new SPECT systems. Final diagnosis for patients remained unchanged in patients independently of the system (1 pathological and 4 normal). Conclusions: The use of StarGuide for DaTSCAN acquisitions improved visual image quality and resolution without impairing final diagnosis. SBR seemed higher with StarGuide in this small sample. These results should be confirmed on a larger scale considering normal and pathological patients.