Imaging using radiations

II-Scintigraphy

Patrice Laquerriere
Patrice.laquerriere@iphc.cnrs.fr

Cours M2 PRIDI, année 2021-2022

 Collimator
Crystal
Light Guide
Photomultiplier
Electronic
shielding
 collimator

Parallel Converging / diverging pinhole

Determine the photon distribution in the crystal

 Parallel Collimator
Thickness between 25 to 80 mm
Has between 3.104 to 9.104 holes

Various geometrical shapes

2 production possibilities : foil or cast

 Septa = Material between holes
Holes are organised for the crystal exposure is maximum.
The hexagonal shapes is the best compromise
Hexagon, cylinder, square, rectangle has the same septa thickness
It is not the case using circles

The septa minimal thickness is determined by the photon energy

2ep
s with p = minimum distance crossed
s
e Hp
H If you accept 5% of penetration,

What is the low limite for s s ?

transmission  e  µp  0,05 6e
s
e  µp  e 3 µH  3
 demonstration
Septa Penetration for a parralel collimator :

crystal

collimator

septa

source
Minimum path

minimum path  septa minimum thickness calculation

Septa penetration:

q
w
H q

e e
s
 Septa penetration:
w
A atténuation de 95% : e  0.05
w  3/ 

In the
dans le triangle ABC
ABC :
w
H w s

H  (2e  s )
2 2 (2e  s )

Since e +es=s H
comme  H
C B
e s e 2e H  w

s w

2ew
Septa thickness:
épaisseur septa s
H w
 Septa penetration:

6e
s
 3
H  
 
w
H

e s e
Example

energy: 150 keV

Material: lead 1,6

r = 11,35 g/cm3

Epaisseur septale minimale (mm)

1,4
µ/r = 2,014 cm2/g
1,2
µ = 22,86 cm-1
1
Plomb
Material : Tungsten 0,8 Tungstène
Iridium
r = 19,3 g/cm3 0,6

µ/r = 1,581 cm2/g 0,4

µ = 30,51 cm-1 0,2

0
Material : Iridium 0 10 20 30 40 50

r = 22,42 g/cm3 Hauteur du collimateur (mm)

µ/r = 1,74 cm2/g

µ = 39,01 cm-1
 Spatiale Resolution
L

e
s H
d

Source
12

Résolution collimateur (mm)

L e 10
Hit: tan   

d e
d H 8

Rp  4

H 0
0 10 20 30 40
distance source-cristal (mm)
50 60
Parallel collimator :

d2 > d1

d1
d2
Detector Geometrical eficiency
Amount of emitted photons by the source point
and transmitted by the collimator

e4
Sp  k 2
H e  s 
2

k is determined by the hole shape

Circulaires 0,06
Hexagonaux 0,07
Carrés 0,08

Do not depend on the distance between the source and the collimator
Two effects cancel :
- the efficiency of a hole is proportional to 1/d²
- the number of hole is proportional to d²
effective height of holes
Modification due to the septa penetration

2
H  Hr 
µ

Real height
 non parallel Collimator

The field of view is a function of the zoom factor

Global field of view of the camera

F
FM 
M Zoom Factor

2
 Ri 
Rs  Rc   
2

M 
 Converging Collimator
enlarge shrink
enlarge inversion inversion
10
9
H 8
7
r 6
f from 40 to 50 cm 5
4
3

Facteur de zoom
2
1
0

Hf -1

M -2

H  f r -3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
Particular case: fan beam -9
-10
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105
d-H (cm)
 Diverging Collimator
1
f from 40 to 50 cm
0,9

0,8

0,7

Facteur de zoom
0,6

0,5

f H
M 0,4

f r 0,3

0,2

0,1

Particular case: fishtail

0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105
d-H (cm)
 Pinhole Collimator
45

40

f from 20 to 25 cm 35

30

Facteur de zoom
r 25

20

15

f
M 10

r
5

0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105
r (cm)
 Spatial resolution
detection Efficiency
Converging Collimator

H
Rp  H  f2
Rc  1   S g  S p cos q 2
r
f
cos q  2 f  H    f  r 2
θ

2,5 1,E+00
Résolution collimateur (cm)

Efficacité de détection
2 1,E-01
H = 4 cm
1,5 1,E-02
f = 40 cm
1 1,E-03
e = 0,2 cm
0,5 1,E-04
s = 0,02 cm
q =0°
0 1,E-05
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50

r (cm) r (cm)

Spatial resolution and detection efficiency fluctuate in the field of view

Maximum for θ=0
 Spatial resolution
detection Efficiency

Diverging Collimator
f

Rc 
Rp 
1 
H 
 S g  S p cos2 q
 f  H 2

H
cosq  2 f   f  H  r 2
r

2,5 4,E-05
Résolution collimateur (cm)

3,E-05

Efficacité de détection
2
H = 4 cm 3,E-05
1,5
f = 40 cm 2,E-05

2,E-05
1
e = 0,2 cm 1,E-05
0,5
s = 0,02 cm 5,E-06

q =0°
0 0,E+00
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50

r (cm) r (cm)
 Spatial resolution
detection Efficiency
Pinhole Collimator

r e cos3 
Rc  e  e Sg 
f 16r 2
f
1,E+00

1,E-01

Efficacité de détection
1,E-02

r 1,E-03

1,E-04

1,E-05
β
1,E-06
0 10 20 30 40 50
r (cm)
2,5
f = 20 cm
Résolution collimateur (cm)

2
e = 0,2 cm 1

 =0°
1,5 0,9

Efficacité de détection
0,8
0,7
1
0,6
0,5
0,5 0,4
0,3 r=5, 10, 20
0,2
0
0,1
0 10 20 30 40 50 0
r (cm) -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60
Angle (°)
 Comparison
Ri = 0,34 cm

Résolution spatiale du système

2,5

H = 4 cm 2
f = 40 cm 1,5
Parallèle
Parallel
Converging
Convergent
e = 0,2 cm

(cm)
Diverging
Divergent
1
s = 0,02 cm pinhole
Sténopé

q =0° 0,5

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
r (cm)

1,E+00

1,E-01
Efficacité de détection

1,E-02
géométrique

Parallel
Parallèle
Converging
Convergent
1,E-03
Diverging
Divergent
1,E-04 pinhole
Sténopé

1,E-05

1,E-06
0 10 20 30 40 50
r (cm)
Low Energy
Medium Energy
High Energy
 Scintillator crystal

The crystal size determine the geometric field of view of the camera

At the origin,
The field of view was circular with small size
now,
rectangular up to 590 x 390 mm²
That needed a crystal size of 600 x 450 mm²

Its thickness determine the detection efficiency

Because of the main use of 99mTc
The thickness was optimized at 140 keV
in general, NaI(Tl) 9,5 mm (84% @140 keV)
Luminescence effect by fluorescence
 t
0
g incidents → N0* excited states N (t )  N e
* *
0

Optical photon number:

Time decay
energy deposited in the crystal

E *
 t 
N h    N 0  N (t )  N 0 1  e  0 
* *

h  

Crystal efficiency
 Crystal Charactéristics
YAP:Ce LaBr3:Ce LaCl3:Ce NaI:Tl

Density (g.cm-3) 5.35 5.29 3,9 3,7

1/μ (mm) [à 140keV] 6,7 3,6 4,5 4,9
yield (ph/MeV) 18000 63000 50000 38000

λmax (nm) 370 380 350 415

refraction index 1.93 1.9 1,9 1,85
Resolution (%) [à 140keV] 20 6 10 9

Photoelectric Fraction (%) 50 79 80 84

[à 140keV]

Decay time(ns) 27 25 20 230

Hygroscopic Non Oui Oui Oui
Limitation on the decay time
Depends on the time needed for the electron/hole to move from the ionisation band to the
luminescence sites.

Depend on the live time of the emission state of activator site

Limitation on the light yield

Determined by the number of electron/hole pairs created in the ionisation bande

Photon energy
Eg
n ph 

Scintillation yield (10^3 ph/MeV)

140

E g 120
100
around 2,5 80
LaBr3
60 Amélioration théorique possible
Energy Gap 40
NaI:Tl

LSO
20
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Band gap (eV)
 Coupling: optimisation
Optimisation of the surfaces

Reflector
Crystal
Interface
PM

Choice of the reflector:

Specular Reflectr:
reflexion angle = incident angle -> not ideal
Lambertian Reflector:
R(qr)=cosqi, reflexion near orthogonal to the crystal-> better
Limitation light spread
Surface treatment choice :
Avoid/decrease total reflexions

Critical Angle of total reflexion:

 n2 
q c  sin  1

 n1 

qc n2 Example:
NaI:Tl n=1,85
n1 Optical guide: n=1,5
q c  54
 intrinsic resolution
Coupling Crystal / PMT

barycentric approach
Can only be used with a uniform crystal in front of many PM

Number of photoelectrons

  si2 ni 1 / 2 
Ri  2,35 
  si dni dx  
  Linear coordinate

Weighted factor of the PMT

Search for the resolution limit
Minimise R compared to s
Decrease of the detection cell

1
 dni dx 2  2
Ri  2,35  

 ni 

Improvement of the resolution with a high number of photoelectrons

 6 mm n1

For the NaI:Tl, if the scintillation occurs close to the edge, the spread spot is 16mm
if the scintillation occurs in the middle, the spread spot is 8 mm
If the materials becomes air, we obtain 4 mm

Geant4 Simulation
Crystal YAP (n=1,93)
thickness 3mm
Scintillation in the centre
 photomultiplierTube
Nous ne pouv ons pas afficher l’image.

Nb of e- collected at the anode Nb of primairy e-

na  nk  gi
N amplification factor
Of each dynode

Nb of dynodes
 the charge Q = Ne N
=
Nh Number of optical photon produced by the scintillator
Wl optical yield of the photocathode
sl quantic yield of the photocathode
C collection yield
G total Gain of the PM

E 
N h   et  W(l )s (l )C
h h

Q  EGe

with G=K x HTαd

 Output voltage
I(t)

Ca Ra V(t)
Ra= 50 Ω
Ca=10 pF
0=25 ns
t Q1=1,6 10-13 C
dQ Q  0 Q2=0.8 10-13 C
I (t )   e
dt  0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
-0,002
dV (t ) V (t ) dQ
I ( t )  Ca   -0,004

dt Ra dt -0,006

V (Volt)
-0,008
t -0,01
dV (t ) 1 Q  0
 V (t )  e -0,012

dt Ra Ca Ca 0 -0,014

-0,016

avec  a  RaCa -0,018

Temps (ns)

Q 0  t
 
t

V (t )   e  e a 
0

Ca  0   a  
 
 scintillation location
each anode of the PM is linked to two different circuits
(« a » and « b »)
That are plugged to vertical plate
Of an oscilloscop
« Pa » and « Pb ».

For example :
L1=12
L2=10
L3=6
Avec V~L/R

Pb-Pa=(Vb+Vd+Vf)-(Va+Vc+Ve)=(12/3+10/2+6/1) – (12/1+10/2+6/3) = 15-19 = -4

Displacement to the left of the light spot !!

 X  X Y  Y 
X  Y 
X  X Y Y 

W  X   X  Y  Y 
 new approaches
Segmentation of the crystals

Advantages:
Containment of the light
the spatial resolution is given by the crystal size : choice of the resolution
almost independent to the counting rate
possible to reject the scattering photons

disadantages:
dead zone introduced by the segmentation (solid angle)
pixel number increased
light collection decreased because of thin crystal
collimator holes must be adapted
pixelization Artifacts
Price

Photodetectors
PM multi-anodes / sensitive to the position
Solid Detector
Performance determination
Characterised by 6 parameters
Energy Resolution
spatial linearity
Uniformity
Spatial Resolution
Detection Efficiency
Count rate

Most of the time there is a correlation

The performances vary in the field of view

Three regions:
FFOV: Full field of view
UFOV: Useful field of view 95% de FFOV
CFOV: Central field of view 75% de FFOV
 Energy Resolution
with a PMT
N
= N  N h W s C G
Nh Number of optical photon produced by the scintillator
Wl optical yield of the photocathode s x2
sl quantic yield of the photocathode avec x  2
Relative Variance
C collection yield x
G total Gain of the PM

W s C G
N  N     
h
N h N h W N h W s N h W s C

Radom data law Relative Variance

1
N h poissonienne N   h
N h
1 W
W binomiale W 
W
1s
s binomiale s 
s
1 C
C binomiale C 
C
 1  G
N 
W s C N h

We have to add the charge equivalent noise (ENC)

ENC : input signal needed to obtain an output signal with an amplitude equal to the
signal amplitude that would generate the electronic noise

Entre 0,1 et 0,2 2

E 1  G  ENC 
Re   2,35  
Eg W s C N ph  W s C N phG 


We have to add,
crystal inhomogeneities
Light propagation in the crystal
 Spatial Linearity

Capability of a system to give an image compatible with the object

without geometrical distortions

The spatial linearity of a gamma camera is determined by

Analysing the distortions induced in the scintigraphy image
Of a radioactive source of known geometry

A distortion can be corrected using a positioning matrix correction

 Uniformity
The camera response to a small extend with a given amount of radioactivity
Is more or less independent of the position in the field of view

This characteristic has to be determined in two cases :

There is no collimator
we then speak about intrinsic uniformity
Because it is a characteristic of the gamma camera

There is a collimator
we then speak about system uniformity
Because the characteristic is linked to the use conditions
In the cas of uniform irradiation

Full uniformity Uf
In a large ROI (Region Of Interest)
that limits the studied field (UFOV or CFOV)
Uf = (Cmax – Cmin) / (Cmax + Cmin) in %

Differential uniformity Ud
Highest local variation between two pixels,
In the ROI that limits the studied field
The location is arbitrary defined by a
group of 25 pixels centred around one non null pixel
Ud = (Chi – Clow) / (Chi + Clow) in %
 Intrinsic Uniformity

Full Uniformity differential Uniformity

CFOV UFOV CFOV UFOV
2,5 3,0 1,5 2,0
99mTc
 System Uniformity

Full Uniformity differential Uniformity

CFOV UFOV CFOV UFOV
4,0 5,1 2,5 3,0
57Co
Spatial Resolution
Intrinsic spatial Resolution
Spatial Resolution
system spatial Resolution

other method: calculate the MTF

Detection efficiency or sensitivity

Probability to detect an incident photon

Defined as the count rate calculated using a plan source

System = intrinsic (Si)+ collimator (Sc)

Avec Si >> Sc

Si depends on the crystal

Sc depends on the collimator

Usual value, collimator LEGP: 130 cps/MBq

 Count rate

With the increase of the activity,

The count rate has two components :

The observed count-rate linearity

The exact position of the recorded event

Variation of the source activity

10
n
9 m
1  n
Nombre d’evts détectés et 8 Dead-time, non-paralyzable
enregistrés par seconde 7
6
5
4
1/e
3
 n
2 m  ne
1 Dead time, paralyzable
0
0 1/ 20 40 60 80 100 120

Nombre d’evts physiques par seconde

 Clinical Procedures

The advantage of the nuclear medicine is

The unic capability of imaging a physiological function

Planar Imaging : integration of a volume

one advantage is the follow up of the activity variation in function of time

Nuclear medicine if few numbers (2004)

550 physicians
850 technicians

200 MN units
420 gamma cameras
75 TEPsystem
 acquisition
Patient Movement
« Macroscopic et microscopic »

Collimator choice
resolution, efficiency, energy…

Size of the image matrix

pixel = FHWM/3, zoom

Partial volume Effect

Object size < 2x FHWM

Energy window
Compromise between contrast and efficiency
typically: 20% around the photon energy

Count rate
Injected activity to limit losses (<10%)
 Contrast image
Object Contrast

Aa  An Aa  An
CO  CO 
An Aa  An

Normal Activity Abnormal activity

n = count in the background

n+n = count in the region of interest
n > 10% of n

sn  n
s a  n  n si n  n, s  2n
2s  95,5%  2 2n  0,1n
s  s s
2
n
2
a
Different kinds of acquisition

Static
the distribution of the molecule must be unchanged during the acquisition

Dynamic
Serie of static images (time)
End: count rate or time of measure

Whole body
Serie of static images (space)

Synchronised
Serie of static images (time) synchronised on a physiological rate

List Mode
 Quality Control
Complicated Procedure: Standardisation

Satisfy to 2 needs
Performance Comparison why buying
Detect the characteristic modification during time

Procedures dedicated to company

NEMA et IEC

Procedures dedicated to users

AAPM, IAEA, IPSM, IPEM
 Quality Control

Installation
Control of the high voltage stability (24h)
Electric Protection: inverter
Temperature and humidity Control
Protection against magnetic field

acquisition conditions
Follow the company instructions
Verify the right energy of the photoelectric peak
Adjust the energy window
Count rate must be below ~2x104 cps (< 10% of losses)
The stand position must be known
In the case of a multidetector camera, measurements have to be performed on each camera
Detector Protection against leaks and chocs
 Quality Control

Source
if possible, tests made using 99mTc
Optimise the source point position at > 5xFOV
Vérifier l’uniformité des sources planes

phantom
The phantom size is linked to the spatial resolution of the system
The FHWM = 1,75 x the size of the smallest object

Mecanichal System
Collimator (lead…)
Collimator loading
System Rotation
Verify if the course is free of everything
 Quality Control

Different tests proposed:

Energy Calibration: find the photoelectric peak and center the energy window
Noise count : contamination test
Uniformity
Detection Efficiency
Energy Resolution
Spatial Linearity
Spatial Resolution
Collimator: hole orientation
Count rate