Picone Valentin, Makris Nikolaos, Boutevin Fanny, Roy Sarah, Playe Margot, Soussan Michael
GE Healthcare, 78530, 283 Rue de la Miniere, Buc, France.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Avicenne Hospital, HUPSSD, APHP, Paris, France.
EJNMMI Phys. 2021 Feb 2;8(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s40658-021-00354-x.
The SwiftScan solution (General Electric Healthcare) combines a new low-energy high-resolution sensitivity collimator and a tomographic step-and-shoot continuous (SSC) mode acquisition. The purpose of this study is to determine whether SSC mode can be used in clinical practice with shorter examination times, while preserving image quality and ensuring accurate semi-quantification. Twenty bone scan and 10 lung scan studies were randomly selected over a period of 2 months. Three sets of image datasets were produced: step-and-shoot (SS) acquisition, simulated 25% count reduction using the Poisson resampling method (SimSS), and SimSS continuous acquisition (SimSSC), where SimSS was summed with counts acquired during detector head rotation. Visual assessment (5-point Likert scale, 2 readers) and semi-quantitative evaluation (50 focal uptake from 10 bone studies), assessed by SUV, coefficient of variation (COV), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), were performed using t test and Bland-Altman analysis.
Intra-reader agreement was substantial for reader 1 (k = 0.71) and for reader 2 (k = 0.61). Inter-reader agreement was substantial for SS set (k = 0.93) and moderate for SimSSC (k = 0.52). Bland-Altman analysis showed a good interchangeability of SS and SimSSC SUV values. The mean CNR between SS and SimSSC was not significantly different: 42.9 ± 43.7 [23.7-62.1] vs. 43.1 ± 46 [22.9-63.3] (p = 0.46), respectively. COV values, assessing noise level, did not deviate significantly between SS and SimSSC: 0.20 ± 0.08 [0.18-0.23] vs. 0.21 ± 0.08, [0.18-0.23] (p = 0.15), respectively, whereas a significant difference was demonstrated between SS and SimSS: 0.20 ± 0.08 [0.18-0.23] vs. 0.23 ± 0.09 [0.20-0.25] (p < 0.0001), respectively.
SSC mode acquisition decreases examination time by approximately 25% in bone and lung SPECT/CT studies compared to SS mode (~ 2 min per single-bed SPECT), without compromising image quality and signal quantification. This SPECT sensitivity improvement also offers the prospect of more comfortable exams, with less motion artifacts, especially in painful or dyspneic patients.
SwiftScan解决方案（通用电气医疗集团）结合了一种新型低能高分辨率灵敏度准直器和断层步进式连续（SSC）模式采集。本研究的目的是确定SSC模式是否可用于临床实践，在保持图像质量并确保准确半定量的同时缩短检查时间。在2个月的时间内随机选择了20例骨扫描和10例肺扫描研究。生成了三组图像数据集：步进式（SS）采集、使用泊松重采样方法模拟25%计数减少（SimSS）以及SimSS连续采集（SimSSC），其中SimSS是探测器头旋转期间采集的计数之和。采用t检验和Bland-Altman分析进行视觉评估（5级李克特量表，2名阅片者）和半定量评估（来自10例骨研究的50个局灶性摄取），通过SUV、变异系数（COV）和对比噪声比（CNR）进行评估。
阅片者1（k = 0.71）和阅片者2（k = 0.61）的阅片者内一致性较高。SS组的阅片者间一致性较高（k = 0.93），SimSSC组的阅片者间一致性中等（k = 0.52）。Bland-Altman分析显示SS和SimSSC的SUV值具有良好的互换性。SS和SimSSC之间的平均CNR无显著差异：分别为42.9±43.7 [23.7 - 62.1]和43.1±46 [22.9 - 63.3]（p = 0.46）。评估噪声水平的COV值在SS和SimSSC之间无显著偏差：分别为0.20±0.08 [0.18 - 0.23]和0.21±0.08 [0.18 - 0.23]（p = 0.15），而SS和SimSS之间存在显著差异：分别为0.20±0.08 [0.18 - 0.23]和0.23±0.09 [0.20 - 0.25]（p < 0.0001）。
与SS模式相比，SSC模式采集可使骨和肺SPECT/CT研究的检查时间减少约25%（单床位SPECT约每分钟2分钟），且不影响图像质量和信号定量。这种SPECT灵敏度的提高还为更舒适的检查提供了前景，减少了运动伪影，尤其是在疼痛或呼吸困难的患者中。
