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Rotating gamma-camera tomography is the method of choice for 201Tl perfusion imaging to detect myocardial ischaemia or infarction, but the optimum technique has not previously been investigated. Variables which can affect the utility of the images include acquisition time, collimator sensitivity and resolution, spatial filtering, reconstruction matrix and display parameters. An 'Iowa' design myocardial phantom containing 201Tl, with a defect representing an unperfused area, was used to study the effect of these variables. Results were assessed by measuring image contrast and non-uniformity and by observer grading trials. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and contrast ratios indicated that filtering the acquisition data with a count-dependent (Metz) filter before reconstruction and using a narrow slice width gave best results. No single collimator was superior for all four defect locations investigated but low-energy general purpose and high-resolution collimators were preferred to those with greater sensitivity. Reducing acquisition time by a factor of four compared with that for routine patient imaging affected contrast ratio, uniformity and area under ROC curves insignificantly, provided the optimum reconstruction was used. Displaying tomographic sections in colour gave no improvement in ROC curves over monochrome images. Data acquisition time or administered 201Tl radioactivity might therefore be reduced below the 25 min and 80 MBq often used for patient studies.

A new technique has been developed for presenting myocardial tomograms that allows the observer to perceive the shape of the thallium-201 distribution directly. The surface of the myocardium was found by applying an interactive thresholding technique to a set of conventional transverse slices. Computer graphics techniques were used to display a shaded image of that surface on a television screen, showing the three dimensional shape of the myocardial surface from any chosen aspect. A set of normal preserved coronary arteries was digitised, and using scaling and transformation techniques these arteries were mapped on to the myocardial tomograms and a shaded surface image produced with superimposed coronary arteries. This provided a familiar anatomical framework for locating perfusion defects. Its value in identifying various diseased vessels was confirmed by a comparison of the tomographic findings with the angiographic findings in five individual cases.