A Qualitative and Quantitative Comparative Analysis of Scintillation Camera Tomography with the Latest Conventional Imaging Techniques.

摘要

Since very little objective information is available on the image quality and operating performance of a commercially available scintillation camera tomography attachment (Tomocamera) and a new combination high resolution-high sensitivity magnifying scintillation camera collimator (DIVCON), a study was undertaken to perform a comparative analysis on the response of these two systems with the well-known high resolution and high sensitivity collimators as well as with the pinhole collimator, rectilinear scanner and computer precessed images recorded from the camera. Qualitatively the image data of the Alderson head phantom containing a barely detectable tumor phoantom indicate that the order of quality decreases in the following sequence: rectilinear scanner, pinhole collimator, DIVCON collimator, high resolution collimator and Tomocamera. Computer processed images using the latter three collimators render quality as good as that of the rectilinear scanner. A quantitative evaluation using resolution indices and modulation transfer functions shows that the response quality decreases in the following sequence: DIVCON collimator, high resolution collimator, Tomocamera and high sensitivity collimator. Although the quantitative data support the qualitative data, it is shown that the quantitative method reveals greater margins of difference and thus is a much more sensitive indicator of the response of these systems.