Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Geneva University Hospital, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland; University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Sydney, Australia.
University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Sydney, Australia.
Phys Med. 2018 Jun;50:37-45. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2018.05.010. Epub 2018 May 26.
The purpose of this study is to validate a Monte Carlo simulation model for the clinical Siemens Biograph mCT PET scanner using the GATE simulation toolkit, and to evaluate the performance of six different scintillation materials in this model using the National Electrical Manufactures Association (NEMA) NU 2-2007 protocol.
A model of the Biograph mCT PET detection system and its geometry was developed. NEMA NU 2-2007 phantoms were also modelled. The accuracy of the developed scanner model was validated through a comparison of the simulation results from GATE, SimSET and PeneloPET toolkits, and experimental data obtained using the NEMA NU 2-2007 protocols. The evaluated performance metrics included count rate performance, spatial resolution, sensitivity, and scatter fraction (SF). Thereafter, the mCT PET scanner was simulated with six different candidate high-performance scintillation materials, including LSO, LaBr, CeBr, LuAP, GLuGAG and LFS-3, and its performance evaluated according to the NEMA NU 2-2007 specifications.
The Monte Carlo simulation model demonstrates good agreement with the experimental data and results from other simulation packages. For instance, the scatter fraction calculated using GATE simulation is 34.35% while the experimentally measured value is 33.2%, 38.48% for the SimSET, and 34.8% for the PeneloPET toolkit. The best-performing scintillation materials were found to be LuAP, LSO and LFS-3, while GLuGAG offers acceptable performance if cost is the dominant concern.
The main performance characteristics of the Biograph mCT PET scanner can be simulated accurately using GATE with a good agreement with other Monte Carlo simulation packages and experimental measurements. Newly developed scintillators show promise and offer alternative options for the design of novel generation PET scanners.
本研究旨在使用 GATE 仿真工具包验证西门子 Biograph mCT PET 扫描仪的蒙特卡罗仿真模型，并使用 NEMA NU 2-2007 协议评估该模型中六种不同闪烁体材料的性能。
开发了 Biograph mCT PET 检测系统及其几何形状的模型。还对 NEMA NU 2-2007 体模进行了建模。通过比较 GATE、SimSET 和 PeneloPET 工具包的仿真结果以及使用 NEMA NU 2-2007 协议获得的实验数据，验证了所开发的扫描仪模型的准确性。评估的性能指标包括计数率性能、空间分辨率、灵敏度和散射分数 (SF)。此后，使用包括 LSO、LaBr、CeBr、LuAP、GLuGAG 和 LFS-3 在内的六种候选高性能闪烁体材料对 mCT PET 扫描仪进行了模拟，并根据 NEMA NU 2-2007 规范对其性能进行了评估。
蒙特卡罗仿真模型与实验数据和其他仿真包的结果吻合良好。例如，使用 GATE 模拟计算的散射分数为 34.35%，而实验测量值为 33.2%，SimSET 为 38.48%，PeneloPET 工具包为 34.8%。性能最佳的闪烁体材料被发现是 LuAP、LSO 和 LFS-3，而如果成本是主要关注点，则 GLuGAG 提供了可接受的性能。
使用 GATE 可以准确模拟 Biograph mCT PET 扫描仪的主要性能特征，并且与其他蒙特卡罗仿真包和实验测量结果吻合良好。新开发的闪烁体具有很大的潜力，为新一代 PET 扫描仪的设计提供了替代方案。
