Data processing and image reconstruction methods for the HEAD PENN-PET scanner

Methods of reconstruction and quantitation are developed for a 3D system and are evaluated on the septa-less HEAD PENN-PET scanner, which has a very large axial acceptance angle (/spl theta//sub max/=/spl plusmn/28/spl deg/ in the center) and large axial field-of-view of 256 mm. To overcome the difficulties of data storage and reconstruction time with 3D reconstruction, the authors have reduced the size of the 4-D projection matrix required for 3D-RP reconstruction, and compared the results to the Fourier rebinning (FORE) algorithm. Both approaches achieve a favorable tradeoff in data storage requirements, reconstruction time, and accuracy that are suitable for clinical use. The authors have also studied the application of the FORE algorithm to transmission scans acquired with a single point source (/sup 137/Cs) so that data quantitation can be performed.