Challenges in Acquiring Clinical Simultaneous SPECT-MRI on a PET-MRI Scanner

Abstract

The INSERT is the world's first clinical SPECT-MRI brain imaging system based on scintillation detectors with a SiPM readout. Here we demonstrate its use within a clinical MRI environment for the first time. Using a standard transmit-receive head coil, and with an appropriate selection of a custom MRI sequence (GRE), we overcome mutual interference. The INSERT and its bulky 50 kg tungsten collimator introduce magnetic field inhomogeneity. Due to the specific MRI-compatible collimator design, inhomogeneity is compensated by shimming, leading to simultaneous acquisition. We process the SPECT data acquired alongside the MRI sequence to evaluate the SPECT system performance and the impact of the MRI. Finally, we present a set of simultaneous SPECT-MRI acquisitions, demonstrating multimodal imaging capabilities, albeit with a limited MRI sequence.

Radiation Detector Front-End Readout Chip with Nonbinary Successive Approximation Register Analog-to-Digital Converter for Wearable Healthcare Monitoring Applications

“…As integrated chip technology has developed, many large and costly machines have become smaller and less expensive. In the biomedical field, progressive wireless technology and modalities such as electroencephalography [ 1 ], electrocardiography [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], and magnetic resonance imaging [ 7 ] are being integrated into wireless body sensor networks [ 5 , 6 , 8 ]. Wearable devices are becoming even smaller because digital signal processors and data storage can be outsourced to external devices.…”