Performance characteristics of a dual head SPECT scanner with PET capability

Using a dual detector scanner in coincidence avoids many of the factors leading to poor performance in a SPECT system collimated for 511 keV. On the other hand, it would be unrealistic to expect the same good performance achieved with a dedicated PET scanner. It was therefore the goal of the present investigation to develop an ECT scanner which provides the same performance achieved with present SPECT scanners when operated as a SPECT system for imaging single photon emitters and which provides clearly superior performance to a 511 keV collimated SPECT scanner when operated in the coincidence mode.