Development of the MRC-SPECT-II system: a MR-compatible small-animal SPECT system based on semiconductor imaging spectrometers and a Synthetic Compound-Eye gamma camera design

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a routine molecular imaging modality, widely appreciated in any nuclear medicine department and clinically used for more than 50 years. Whereas SPECT instrumentation used in clinical and preclinical practice is still mainly based on cumbersome scintillation detectors, characterized by poor energy and spatial resolution, the demand of high-performance SPECT instrumentation continues to rise. We have designed and fully developed the second-generation of a Magnetic Resonance (MR)-Compatible SPECT system, the MRC-SPECT-II system, a high-performance SPECT scanner designed for preclinical imaging applications. The stationary system consists of a full ring of compact semiconductor detectors coupled with a complex collimator aperture, to be integrated inside small-bore pre-clinical MRI scanners. The system is based on two key features: a small-pixel ultra-high resolution solid-state detector module and an innovative geometry named Synthetic Compound-Eye gamma camera, bioinspired to compound eyes often found as vision system in small invertebrates. Preliminary studies demonstrate that the proposed system offers an unprecedented spectroscopic performance (1.71 ± 0.28 keV at 122 keV) in a broad energy range, making it well-suited for multi-isotope SPECT imaging and hyperspectral imaging applications. The prototype achieves a peak geometrical sensitivity of ~0.33%, consistently greater than 0.25% across the central field-of-view of 3.5 cm D × 2.5 cm L. From imaging reconstruction, the prototype offers sub-1-mm spatial resolution when used as standalone SPECT system. To demonstrate that the combination of ultrahigh-resolution imaging spectrometers and the Synthetic Compound-Eye gamma camera design would greatly benefit future clinical SPECT imaging systems, we present the conceptual design study of a brain SPECT imaging system. We prove that the novel system design coupled with non-conventional aperture designs, namely micro-slits and micro-rings, could provide an excellent spatial resolution (<4 mm), a very high sensitivity (up to 1.38%), and a rich angular sampling without scanning motion over a clinically relevant field-of-view of 20 cm in diameter.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Bioengineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Zannoni, Elena Maria

Contributors dc:contributor

• Meng, Ling-Jian
• Insana, Michael
• Dobrucki, Wawrzyniec
• La Rivière, Patrick J
• Tai, Yuan-Chuan

• semiconductor detector
• imaging system development
• nuclear imaging
• hyperspectral imaging
• SPECT/MRI

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2021 Elena Maria Zannoni

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113249

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/113249