A Digital Platform for Simulating the Accurate Detectability of Overactive Parathyroid Glands in SPECT/CT Imaging

Reliable detection of overactive parathyroid glands is still a currently unmet need in preparing minimally invasive surgical interventions. Compared to physical phantom studies, computer simulation has the potential to explore a large number of parameters witha higher flexibility at a lower cost. In this study, a digital platform was developed to optimize the parathyroid SPECT/CT imaging protocols. The SIMIND platform was used for Monte Carlo simulation. The Zubal digital phantom was modified in order to include a small spherical artificial adenoma. Contrast-to-noise ratio was selected as a surrogate measure of lesion detectability. Best CNR values were determined using different collimators. Lesion detectability was analyzed based on the assumption that the thyroid activity was mostly vanished in the subtraction or dual phase protocol. The results showed that highest resolution-collimators yielded the highest CNR values. Future work will use this platform in order to search higher detectability levels with other acquisition and reconstruction parameters for different camera brands.