Near Simultaneous Combined SPECT/CT Imaging Using EMCCD

At RMD we have developed a detector for near simultaneous, combined, small animal SPECT/CT imaging using a customized electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) camera. The detector is based on a back-thinned EMCCD coupled to a high resolution CsI(Tl) scintillator via a 3:1 fiberoptic taper, and is capable of operating at frame rates of 30 frames per second in full pixel resolution mode and at 520 frames per second in binning mode. The performance of this system for combined radionuclide and X-ray imaging was evaluated using ^99mTc and ¹²⁵I sources and a mini-focus X-ray generator, respectively. We have demonstrated that this system is capable of providing better than 100 mum intrinsic resolution for both radionuclide and X-ray imaging, making it possible to develop a practical and economical, near simultaneous, combined SPECT/CT system for small animal imaging. Here we discuss the SPECT/CT imaging data acquired by imaging a mouse cardiac phantom filled with a small quantity of ^99mTc, and discuss the advantages of this detector for small animal imaging