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Performance Evaluation of SimPET-X, a PET Insert for Simultaneous Mouse Total-Body PET/MR Imaging

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Abstract

Purpose

In this study, a small animal PET insert (SimPET-X, Brightonix Imaging Inc.) for simultaneous PET/MR imaging studies is presented. This insert covers an 11-cm-long axial field-of-view (FOV) and enables imaging of mouse total-bodies and rat heads.

Procedures

SimPET-X comprises 16 detector modules to yield a ring diameter of 63 mm and an axial FOV of 110 mm. The detector module supports four detector blocks, each comprising two 4 × 4 SiPM arrays coupled with a 20 × 9 array of LSO crystals (1.2 × 1.2 × 10 mm3). The physical characteristics of SimPET-X were measured in accordance with the NEMA NU4-2008 standard protocol. In addition, we assessed the compatibility of SimPET-X with a small animal-dedicated MRI (M7, Aspect Imaging) and conducted phantom and animal studies.

Results

The radial spatial resolutions at the center based on 3D OSEM without and with the warm background were 0.73 mm and 0.99 mm, respectively. The absolute peak sensitivity of the system was 10.44% with an energy window of 100–900 keV and 8.27% with an energy window of 250–750 keV. The peak NECR and scatter fraction for the mouse phantom were 348 kcps at 26.2 MBq and 22.1% with an energy window of 250–750 keV, respectively. The standard deviation of pixel value in the uniform region of an NEMA IQ phantom was 4.57%. The spillover ratios for air- and water-filled chambers were 9.0% and 11.0%, respectively. In the hot-rod phantom image reconstructed using 3D OSEM-PSF, all small rods were resolved owing to the high spatial resolution of the SimPET-X system. There was no notable interference between SimPET-X and M7 MRI. SimPET-X provided high-quality mouse images with superior spatial resolution, sensitivity, and counting rate performance.

Conclusion

SimPET-X yielded a remarkably improved sensitivity and NECR compared with SimPETTM.

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Funding

This work was supported in part by grants from the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups (grant no. S2580037), the Korea Medical Device Development Fund (202011A06-1), and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2018R1D1A1B07045559).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Kyeong Yun Kim, Ji Yong Park & Jae Sung Lee

  2. Brightonix Imaging Inc., #1705, Seongsu-yeok SK V1 Tower, 25, Yeonmujang 5ga-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 04782, Korea

    Kyeong Yun Kim, Jeong-Whan Son, Kyuwan Kim, Yina Chung, Guen Bae Ko & Jae Sung Lee

  3. Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Kyuwan Kim, Yun-Sang Lee, Guen Bae Ko & Jae Sung Lee

  4. Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Ji Yong Park

  5. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Korea

    Yun-Sang Lee & Jae Sung Lee

Authors
  1. Kyeong Yun Kim
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  2. Jeong-Whan Son
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  3. Kyuwan Kim
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  4. Yina Chung
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  5. Ji Yong Park
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  6. Yun-Sang Lee
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  7. Guen Bae Ko
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  8. Jae Sung Lee
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guen Bae Ko or Jae Sung Lee.

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Ethics Approval

All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the Seoul National University Hospital.

Conflict of Interest

KY Kim, J-W Son, K Kim, Y Chung, GB Ko, and JS Lee are employees of Brightonix Imaging Inc.

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Kim, K.Y., Son, JW., Kim, K. et al. Performance Evaluation of SimPET-X, a PET Insert for Simultaneous Mouse Total-Body PET/MR Imaging. Mol Imaging Biol 23, 703–713 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-021-01595-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-021-01595-z

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