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Scatter correction improves concordance in SPECT MPI with a dedicated cardiac SPECT solid-state camera

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

Abstract

Purpose

Correction for photon attenuation and scatter improves image quality with conventional NaI-based gamma cameras but evaluation of these corrections for novel solid-state dedicated cardiac cameras is limited. In this study, we assess the accuracy of dual-energy-window (DEW) scatter correction (SC) applied to clinically acquired 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion images obtained on a dedicated multi-pinhole camera with cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detectors (GE Discovery NM530) compared to DEW scatter-corrected images from our conventional SPECT camera (GE Infinia Hawkeye 4; INF).

Methods

A modified DEW SC method was formulated to account for the detection of primary photons in the lower energy window (120 keV ± 5%) with CZT detectors, in addition to estimating the scattered photons detected in the photopeak window (140 keV ± 10%). Phantom experiments were used to estimate the DEW correction parameters. Data from 108 patients, acquired using a standard rest/stress Tc-99m-tetrofosmin SPECT/CT protocol on both cameras, were reconstructed with no correction (NC), attenuation correction (AC), and AC with DEW-SC. Images were compared based on the summed stress/rest/difference scores (SSS/SRS/SDS) calculated by clinical software.

Results

The correlation between SSS/SRS for the two cameras was excellent (r ≥ 0.94). The mean difference between cameras was <0.4 for SSS/SRS/SDS scores. Since datasets did not follow a normal distribution, non-parametric tests were used to show significant differences between datasets. Classification of disease (SSS) was highly correlated, as ranked by the two cameras (kendall’s tau = 0.72, P < .001). AC significantly reduced the mean difference between the two cameras for SSS/SRS compared to NC. AC without SC on the CZT introduced a bias towards higher scores when compared to the INF, which was reduced after applying SC. Although SC increased noise, the scores for the AC/SC images were not significantly different between the two cameras (P > .1).

Conclusions

DEW-SC on the CZT camera was feasible and produced images that are not significantly different from those acquired on the INF camera. Although use of SC on CZT images does increase noise, the resultant noise does not introduce bias relative to the INF camera.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Marlie Poirier, Lyanne Fuller, and the staff in Cardiac Imaging at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute for their assistance. This study was in part funded by the Heart and Stroke foundation, Grant Numbers: NA6939 and BR7489. With regards to our conflicts of interest, R. Glenn Wells and Terrence D. Ruddy collaborate with GE Healthcare on research projects and have received honoraria for speaking at GE Healthcare User Meetings.

Disclosure

With regards to our conflicts of interest, R. Glenn Wells and Terrence D. Ruddy collaborate with GE Healthcare on research projects and have received honoraria for speaking at GE Healthcare User Meetings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Amir Pourmoghaddas MSc

  2. Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin St, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4W7, Canada

    Amir Pourmoghaddas MSc, Karen Vanderwerf MSc, Terrence D. Ruddy MD, FRCPC, FACC, FASNC & R. Glenn Wells PhD, FCCPM

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  1. Amir Pourmoghaddas MSc
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  2. Karen Vanderwerf MSc
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  3. Terrence D. Ruddy MD, FRCPC, FACC, FASNC
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  4. R. Glenn Wells PhD, FCCPM
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Correspondence to Amir Pourmoghaddas MSc.

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Pourmoghaddas, A., Vanderwerf, K., Ruddy, T.D. et al. Scatter correction improves concordance in SPECT MPI with a dedicated cardiac SPECT solid-state camera. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 22, 334–343 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-014-0008-0

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