Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Proceedings of the cardiac PET summit meeting 12 may 2014: Cardiac PET and SPECT instrumentation

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Journal of Nuclear Cardiology Aims and scope

Abstract

Advances in PET and SPECT and imaging hardware and software are vastly improving the noninvasive evaluation of myocardial perfusion and function. PET perfusion imaging has benefitted from the introduction of novel detectors that now allow true 3D imaging, and precise attenuation correction (AC). These developments have also resulted in perfusion images with higher spatial and contrast resolution that may be acquired in shorter protocols and/or with less patient radiation exposure than traditional PET or SPECT studies. Hybrid PET/CT cameras utilize transmission computed tomographic (CT) scans for AC, and offer the additional clinical advantages of evaluating coronary calcium and myocardial anatomy but at a higher cost than PET scanners that use 68Ge radioactive line sources. As cardiac PET systems continue to improve, dedicated cardiac SPECT systems are also undergoing a profound change in their design. The scintillation camera general purpose design is being replaced with systems with multiple detectors focused on the heart yielding 5 to 10 times the sensitivity of conventional SPECT. As a result, shorter acquisition times and/or lower tracer doses produce higher quality SPECT images than were possible before. This article reviews these concepts and compares the attributes of PET and SPECT instrumentation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cherry SR, Sorenson JA, Phelps ME. Physics in nuclear medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2003. p. 511.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Garcia EV, Galt R, Faber TL, Chen J. Atlas of nuclear cardiology (3rd edn), In: Vasken D, Jagat N, editors. Current medicine LLC, Chapter 1. 2009. pp 1-34.

  3. Garcia EV, Faber TL. Advances in nuclear cardiology instrumentation. Clinical potential of SPECT and PET. Curr Cardiovasc Imaging Rep 2009;2:230-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lecomte R. Novel detector technology for clinical PET. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2009;36:S69-85.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hammer BE, Christensen NL, Heil BG. Use of magnetic field to increase spatial resolution of positron emission tomography. Med Phys 1994;21:1917-20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Schaart DR, van Dam HT, Seifert S, Vinke R, Dendoover P, Lohner H, Beekman FJ. SiPM-array based PET detectors with depth-of-interaction correction. IEEE Nucl Sci Symposium Conference Record 2008; 3581-3585.

  7. deKemp RA, Yoshinaga K, Beanlands RSB. Will 3-dimensional PET-CT enable the routine quantification of myocardial blood flow? J Nucl Cardiol 2007;14:380-97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Votaw JR, White M. Comparison of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional cardiac Rb-82 PET studies. J Nucl Med 2001;42:701-6.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Karp JS, Surti S, Daube-Witherspoon ME, Muehllehner G. Benefit of Time-of-Flight in PET: Experimental and clinical results. J Nucl Med 2008;49:462-70.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Livieratos L, Rajappan K, Stegger L, Schafers K, Bailey DL, Camici PG. Respiratory gating of cardiac PET data in list-mode acquisition. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2006;33:584-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Meunier LL, Slomka PJ, Dey D, Ramesh A, Thomson LEJ, Hayes SW, et al. Motion frozen F-18-FDG cardiac PET. J Nucl Cardiol 2011;18:259-66.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Koepfli P, Hany TF, Wyss CA, Namdar M, Burger C, Konstantinidis AV, et al. CT attenuation correction for myocardial perfusion quantification using a PET/CT hybrid scanner. J Nucl Med 2004;45:537-42.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Nensa F, Poeppel TD, Beiderwellen K, Schelhorn J, Mahabadi AA, Erbel R, et al. Hybrid PET/MR imaging of the heart: Feasibility and initial results. Radiology. 2013;268:366-73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. http://www3.gehealthcare.com/en/products/categories/pet-ct/pet-ct_scanners/. Accessed Aug 11, 2014.

  15. http://usa.healthcare.siemens.com/molecular-imaging/pet-ct. Accessed Aug 11, 2014.

  16. http://www.healthcare.philips.com/main/products/nuclearmedicine/products/pet/. Accessed Aug 11, 2014.

  17. http://www.positron.com/attrius. Accessed Aug 11, 2014.

  18. How much does a PET/CT scanner cost? 2012/2013 update. http://info.blockimaging.com/bid/90851/How-Much-Does-a-PET-CT-Scanner-Cost-2012-2013-Update. Accessed Aug 11, 2014.

  19. Anger HO. Scintillation camera. Rev Sci Instrum 1958;29:27-33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Garcia EV, Faber TL. New trends in camera and software technology in nuclear cardiology. Cardiol Clin 2009;27:227-36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Garcia EV. Are absolute myocardial blood flow PET measurements ready for clinical use? J Nucl Cardiol 2014;21:857-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Garcia EV. Are SPECT measurements of myocardial blood flow and flow reserve ready for clinical use? Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2014;41:2291-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Disclosure

The authors have indicated that they have no financial conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University, 101 Woodruff Circle, Room 1203, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Ernest V. Garcia PhD

Authors
  1. Ernest V. Garcia PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ernest V. Garcia PhD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Garcia, E.V. Proceedings of the cardiac PET summit meeting 12 may 2014: Cardiac PET and SPECT instrumentation. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 22, 563–570 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-015-0114-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-015-0114-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation