Background
Providing high-quality myocardial perfusion myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images while keeping the radiation dose at a low level for patients with cardiovascular disease is a challenging issue in nuclear medicine. In this research, optimization of imaging protocol by using the idea of irregular imaging was proposed as a potential technique to achieve this goal.
Methods
Humanoid digital phantoms for male and female in 3 sizes of big, medium, and small were produced in this study. We examined 2 sets of imaging protocols on these phantoms. The standard regular imaging protocol includes 32 views at equiangular distances (5.6°). The irregular imaging protocol is implemented by increasing the number of views at anterior to left lateral angular span while decreasing the views at other angles. We compared the image quality of both protocols in terms of contrast, resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Results
The images resolution at 4 walls of the heart (Septal, Lateral, Inferior, Anterior) were evaluated for both proposed and conventional methods and showed that the proposed irregular imaging protocol resulted in images with enhances resolution at Septal, Lateral, and Inferior images. The wall to background contrast and signal-to-noise ratio for the short-axis cross-sections were also calculated and showed the superiority of irregular imaging protocol over the conventional approach.
Conclusion
The results presented in this study suggest that irregular imaging protocol can be a promising approach in nuclear medicine for patients with cardiovascular disease.