Performance Evaluation of a Preclinical SPECT Scanner with a Collimator Designed for Medium-Sized Animals

Figure 2

Resolution and contrast-to-noise ratios of the hot-rod phantom images. (a) Representative transaxial and coronal SPECT images of the phantom. Red and yellow cylinders indicate VOIs for hot and cold areas, respectively. (b) SPECT images of the hot-rod phantom containing 4 different activity concentrations. Slice thickness of 5.0 mm and Gaussian postfilter of full width at half maximum (FWHM) equal to minimum rod size of 1.8 mm were applied. Star marks represent the smallest rod size that can be clearly distinguished on the images of each activity concentration. (c) Contrast-to-noise ratios for the different activity concentrations. Analyzed images were optimized for each rod size by a Gaussian postfilter of FWHM equal to each diameter of the corresponding rods.

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