The effect of activity outside the field of view on image quality for a 3D LSO-based whole body PET/CT scanner.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the influence of outside field of view (FOV) activity concentration (A(c)(,out)) on the noise equivalent count rate (NECR), scatter fraction (SF) and image quality of a 3D LSO whole-body PET/CT scanner. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was the figure of merit used to characterize the image quality of PET scans. A modified International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) phantom was used to obtain SF and counting rates similar to those found in average patients. A scatter phantom was positioned at the end of the modified IEC phantom to simulate an activity that extends beyond the scanner. The modified IEC phantom was filled with (18)F (11 kBq mL(-1)) and the spherical targets, with internal diameter (ID) ranging from 10 to 37 mm, had a target-to-background ratio of 10. PET images were acquired with background activity concentrations into the FOV (A(c)(,bkg)) about 11, 9.2, 6.6, 5.2 and 3.5 kBq mL(-1). The emission scan duration (ESD) was set to 1, 2, 3 and 4 min. The tube inside the scatter phantom was filled with activities to provide A(c)(,out) in the whole scatter phantom of zero, half, unity, twofold and fourfold the one of the modified IEC phantom. Plots of CNR versus the various parameters are provided. Multiple linear regression was employed to study the effects of A(c)(,out) on CNR, adjusted for the presence of variables (sphere ID, A(c)(,bkg) and ESD) related to CNR. The presence of outside FOV activity at the same concentration as the one inside the FOV reduces peak NECR of 30%. The increase in SF is marginal (1.2%). CNR diminishes significantly with increasing outside FOV activity, in the range explored. ESD and A(c)(,out) have a similar weight in accounting for CNR variance. Thus, an experimental law that adjusts the scan duration to the outside FOV activity can be devised. Recovery of CNR loss due to an elevated A(c)(,out) activity seems feasible by modulating the ESD in individual bed positions according to A(c)(,out).