A coded aperture for high-resolution nuclear medicine planar imaging with a conventional Anger camera: experimental results

Coded apertures have been investigated in the past for their promise of an improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over pinhole and collimator systems. We describe a coded aperture camera designed for high-resolution (1.66-mm) imaging of low energy (140 keV) gamma-ray emitters with a conventional Anger camera. The aperture pattern was chosen to maximize the SNR and to allow a simple implementation of a new near-field artifact compensation technique based on the use of an antisymmetric array. Experimental results show that coded aperture imaging can produce good quality high-resolution planar images with high SNR while keeping exposure times and injected doses at reasonable levels.