Adac Laboratories, Inc.

David Coles

Lingxiong Shao

Hugo Bertelsen

Peter Nellemann

Jacobus Koster

A method of correcting for deadtime in an attenuation map generated by a nuclear medicine imaging system is provided. The imaging system includes a gamma ray detector that is rotatable about an object to be imaged. A region is defined on the imaging surface of the detector, such as the edge of the field of view of the detector, such that during a transmission scan of the object, the radiation shadow of the object is substantially less likely to fall upon the defined region than upon other regions of the imaging surface. A blank transmission scan is then performed, including recording the radiation intensity level detected in the region as a reference intensity level. A transmission scan of the object is then performed to acquire an attenuation map of the object, including recording a radiation intensity level detected in the first region during the transmission scan. A correction value is then determined as the ratio of the reference intensity level to the intensity level detected in the region during the transmission scan. The attenuation map is then corrected for deadtime based on the correction value.

Deadtime correction in a nuclear medicine imaging system

A method and apparatus for correcting for random coincidences in a gamma camera imaging system are provided, based on the distribution of the object to be imaged as well as the measured singles and coincidence rates. Gamma radiation emitted from the object is detected for multiple projection angles, including detection of a plurality of coincidence events, to generate an object profile. The singles rate and the coincidence rate are also measured for each of the projection angles. A randoms distribution representing random coincidences in the detected coincidence events is then determined, including computing a randoms profile as the convolution of the object profile and a Gaussian function. The determination of the randoms distribution further includes computing a randoms fraction for each of the projection angles based on the measured singles rate and the measured coincidence rate, and then computing the randoms distribution based on the randoms profile and the randoms fraction for each of the projection angles. The coincidence projection data are corrected based on the randoms distribution prior to generating emission images.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

David Coles