Chapter 7: SPECT

15 flashcards · Biology · by Kristóf Nagy

1. CZT (Cadmium Zinc Telluride)

   A high-Z semiconductor material used in some modern SPECT detectors, offering direct conversion of gamma rays to electrical signals, high count rate capability, excellent energy resolution, and room temperature operation1014.

2. SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography)

   A nuclear medicine imaging technique that uses a gamma camera to acquire multiple projections of a radiotracer distribution from different angles, allowing for 3D image reconstruction910.

3. Dual Isotope Imaging

   A technique that allows for the simultaneous imaging of two different radiotracers labeled with different radionuclides, expanding the diagnostic capabilities of SPECT14.

4. Computed Tomography (CT)

   A medical imaging technique that uses X-rays to create cross-sectional images of the body, providing anatomical information that can be used for attenuation correction in SPECT1112.

5. Voxel (Volume Element)

   The basic 3D unit in a volumetric image, analogous to a pixel in a 2D image11.

6. Orbit

   The path followed by the gamma camera detectors around the patient during SPECT acquisition13.

7. Multi-Camera System

   A SPECT system using multiple gamma camera heads to increase efficiency and reduce acquisition time13.

8. Circular Orbits

   A type of orbit in SPECT where the detectors move in a circular path around the patient13.

9. Non-Circular Orbits

   Orbits in SPECT that deviate from a perfect circle to optimize resolution or cover a specific region of interest13.

10. Attenuation Correction

    A process of correcting for the attenuation of gamma rays as they pass through the patient's body, improving the accuracy of SPECT images12.

11. Attenuation Map

    A representation of the attenuation properties of the patient's body at different locations, obtained from a transmission scan or a CT scan, used for attenuation correction in SPECT12.

12. Transmission Scan

    A scan performed with an external gamma source to measure the attenuation of gamma rays through the patient's body, used to create an attenuation map for SPECT12.

13. 2D Projection

    A representation of a 3D object on a 2D plane, leading to the superimposition of images from different depths and loss of depth information9.

14. Radon Transform

    A mathematical transform that projects a multidimensional function (e.g., a 2D image) into a set of line integrals, forming the basis for tomographic image reconstruction9.

15. 3D Reconstruction

    A process of generating a 3D image from multiple 2D projections acquired from different angles, essential for visualizing the spatial distribution of a radiotracer in SPECT911.