A simulation study of a bedside cardiac PET imager

This paper presents the results of a simulation study on the imaging performance of a bedside cardiac PET system. The proposed system consists of two compact gamma cameras mounted on a mobile gantry. Key challenges presented by this imaging context include: detector positioning to obtain sufficient angular sampling, attenuation correction in the absence of transmission images, and control of image noise. The primary aim of this paper was to quantify the extent of reconstructed image artifacts that result from these effects under the anticipated imaging conditions. The simulation studies demonstrated that limited angle acquisition is the primary source of artifacts followed by attenuation effects. Image noise in this context was not a major factor in the reconstructed image quality. Image artifacts resulting in a nearly 50% variation in image intensity in isolated regions of the myocardium could be expected from this imaging system. Such artifacts render the detection of mild myocardial defects highly difficult; however, severe defects should still be detectable with this system, which can offer important diagnostic information for this patient population.