Improving the count rate performance of a modular cylindrical SPECT system

We recently proposed a design of a modular cylindrical cardiac SPECT system. One special feature of this system is an integrated provision for transmission imaging. To meet the clinical demands of obtaining transmission images, this system must be able to achieve a very high count rate (CR). To explore methods for achieving a high CR capability on a modular cylindrical detector system, we have used our existing modular cylindrical brain SPECT system to examine the feasibility of two approaches. First, we use digital-signal-processing (DSP) boards, in parallel, to execute real time position calculations. Second, we use local encoding and triggering circuits to perform analog signal processing, including identifying the detector module and digitizing the pulse signals. The results of our preliminary investigations indicate that applying the multiple-DSP parallel position calculation and local triggering techniques in a modular SPECT system can improve the CR capability significantly. Applying local triggering increased the CR capability by 15% at a CR capability of 200 kcps. Because we have used slow-speed DSP boards during this proof-of-concept testing, we have not yet met the CR requirements for transmission imaging. However, these results indicate that by using state-of-the-art DSP boards the CR capability of this modular SPECT system can be increased to over 300 kcps.