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Development and performance of SIAT bPET: a high-resolution and high-sensitivity MR-compatible brain PET scanner using dual-ended readout detectors

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) is a powerful tool for brain imaging, but the spatial resolution of the PET scanners currently used for brain imaging can be further improved to enhance the quantitative accuracy of brain PET imaging. The purpose of this study is to develop an MR-compatible brain PET scanner that can simultaneously achieve a uniform high spatial resolution and high sensitivity by using dual-ended readout depth encoding detectors.

Methods

The MR-compatible brain PET scanner, named SIAT bPET, consists of 224 dual-ended readout detectors. Each detector contains a 26 × 26 lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystal array of 1.4 × 1.4 × 20 mm3 crystal size read out by two 10 × 10 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays from both ends. The scanner has a detector ring diameter of 376.8 mm and an axial field of view (FOV) of 329 mm. The performance of the scanner including spatial resolution, sensitivity, count rate, scatter fraction, and image quality was measured. Imaging studies of phantoms and the brain of a volunteer were performed. The mutual interferences of the PET insert and the uMR790 3 T MRI scanner were measured, and simultaneous PET/MRI imaging of the brain of a volunteer was performed.

Results

A spatial resolution of better than 1.5 mm with an average of 1.2 mm within the whole FOV was obtained. A sensitivity of 11.0% was achieved at the center FOV for an energy window of 350–750 keV. Except for the dedicated RF coil, which caused a ~ 30% reduction of the sensitivity of the PET scanner, the MRI sequences running had a negligible effect on the performance of the PET scanner. The reduction of the SNR and homogeneity of the MRI images was less than 2% as the PET scanner was inserted to the MRI scanner and powered-on. High quality PET and MRI images of a human brain were obtained from simultaneous PET/MRI scans.

Conclusion

The SIAT bPET scanner achieved a spatial resolution and sensitivity better than all MR-compatible brain PET scanners developed up to date. It can be used either as a standalone brain PET scanner or a PET insert placed inside a commercial whole-body MRI scanner to perform simultaneous PET/MRI imaging.

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Data availability

The dataset used and/or analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Keren Chen, Lingyan Zhang, Jiaming Lu, Lei Zhao, and Qi An from University of Science and Technology, China for developing the singles processing units of SIAT bPET.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62101539, 12105356, 12375358), the Basic Research Program of Shenzhen (JCYJ20220818101612027), the Scientific Instrument Innovation Team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GJJSTD20180002), the Key Laboratory for Magnetic Resonance and Multimodality Imaging of Guangdong Province (2023B1212060052).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Zhonghua Kuang, Ziru Sang, Ning Ren, Xiaohui Wang, Tianyi Zeng, San Wu, Ming Niu, Longhan Cong, Samuel M. Kinyanjui, Qiaoyan Chen, Changjun Tie, Zheng Liu, Tao Sun, Zhanli Hu, Junwei Du, Ye Li, Dong Liang, Xin Liu, Hairong Zheng & Yongfeng Yang

  2. School of Physics and Electronics-Electrical Engineering, Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, 423000, China

    Zhonghua Kuang

  3. Shenzhen College of Advanced Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Zhonghua Kuang & Samuel M. Kinyanjui

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  1. Zhonghua Kuang
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Contributions

PET detector design and measurements: Z. Kuang, M. Niu, J. Du; PET scanner integration, performance measurement, data analysis, phantom and volunteer scan: Z. Kuang, Z. Sang, L. Cong, S. Kinyanjui, Z. Liu; SiPM readout, signal processing and power supply electronics: Z. Kuang, Z. Sang, X. Wang, S. Wu, J. Du; Data control and acquisition software: N. Ren, Z. Kuang; Sinogram generation, image reconstruction, normalization, random, scatter and attenuation correction: Z. Kuang, T. Zeng, Z. Hu, T. Sun, N. Ren; Dedicated RF coil development: Q. Chen, Y. Li; Mutual interference measurement and simultaneous PET/MRI imaging: Z. Kuang, Z. Sang, Q. Chen, N. Ren, C. Tie; Overall project design and funding secure: Y. Yang, D. Liang, X. Liu, H. Zheng; Manuscript drafting and revision: Z. Kuang, Y. Yang, H. Zheng; Reading and approval of the final manuscript: all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hairong Zheng or Yongfeng Yang.

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Ethics approval

The volunteer scans of this work were approved by the Ethics Committee of Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (approval number: SIAT-IRB-210715-H0566).

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Written informed consent forms for imaging were signed by all participants.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Kuang, Z., Sang, Z., Ren, N. et al. Development and performance of SIAT bPET: a high-resolution and high-sensitivity MR-compatible brain PET scanner using dual-ended readout detectors. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 51, 346–357 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-023-06458-z

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