Contrast optimization using triple energy window scatter correction method for In-111 SPECT imaging: A SIMIND Monte Carlo study

Abstract

Introduction: Detection of scattered photons in photo-peak window degrades image contrast and quantitative accuracy of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. Increases image contrast lead to significant improvement of image quality. The triple energy window (TEW) method, which has developed to eliminate the counts of scatter photons in measured counts, was applied to I-111 SPECT study and its effect was examined in a simulation study. Materials and method: The Siemens SYMBIA gamma camera equipped with a medium energy (ME) collimator was simulated by the Simulating Medical Imaging Nuclear Detectors (SIMIND) program. We used the SIMIND Monte Carlo program to generate the I-111 SPECT projection data of the Jaszczak phantom. The phantom consists of six spheres with different diameters (9.5, 12.7, 19.1, 15.9, 25.4, and 31.8 mm) which are used to evaluate the image contrast. Geometric, scatter and penetration fraction and also, point-spread functions (PSFs) and contrast curves were drawn and compared. Results: Results showed that 171keV photo-peak compared to 245keV gave the best results with a ME collimator when the TEW scatter correction method was applied. This can be explained by the large amount of collimator scatter and penetration from the photo-peak and by the collimator for 245 photo-peak window. Conclusion: With TEW scatter correction method, it is better to use a 171keV photo-peak window because of the better spatial resolution and image contrast.