Medical Imaging

Techniques

Dr. K. Adalarasu
KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University
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Textbook and Materials
Rafael C. Gonzalez, Richard E. Woods,
“Digital Image Processing”, 2nd Edition,
Pearson Education, 2003
Digital Image Processing by Jayaraman,
Veerakumar, 2012
Khandpur R.S, Handbook of Biomedical
Instrumentation, 3/e, Tata McGraw
Hill,New Delhi, 2014

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Reference
William K. Pratt, “Digital Image Processing” ,
John Willey ,2001
Steve Webb, The physics of medical imaging,
Adam Hilger, Bristol, England, Philadelphia,
USA, 1988
Jain A.K., “Fundamentals of Digital Image
Processing”, PHI, 1995.

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Radio Isotope
Imaging

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed
Tomographic (ECT)

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed Tomographic
(ECT)
 Radio-nuclide tomography refers to the display of the
distribution of radioactivity in a single plane or slice
through the patient
 3D distribution of radio-nuclide concentrations in the
organ are estimated
 Using 2D projectional views acquired at many different
angles about the patient
 ECT, depends on the measurement of an in vivo
biochemical process, i.e. the accumulation of a radio-
pharmaceutical within the body

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed Tomographic
(ECT)
 Transmission CT attempts to measure a physical
parameter, i.e. the attenuation coefficient of X-rays
 Emission computed tomography has developed in
two complementary directions based on the type of
radiation that is detected
 Positron emission tomography (PET)
 Consists of the detection of annihilation coincidence
radiation from positron emitter such as C-11, N-13, O-15,
and F-18

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed Tomographic
(ECT)
 When a positron (i.e., a positively charged electron)
is emitted within tissue
 It rapidly loses its kinetic energy in the same way that
beta rays (electrons) lose their energy
 After slowing down
 Positron interacts with an electron
 Both are annihilated
 Resulting in the emission of two 511 keV photons
 Conserve momentum
 Two annihilation photons are emitted in very nearly
opposite directions (180°)
KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University
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Emission Computed Tomographic
 One or more rings of discrete
scintillators are used to detect
the two photons
 Fast coincidence timing circuits
minimize the detection of
randomly occurring single
events
 Collimation within the plane is
not required
 Collimation is usually required,
however, perpendicularly to the
transverse plane

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed Tomographic
 Second approach to emission computed tomography
involves the detection of gamma rays emitted singly
by the radio-nuclidic tracer
 Single photon emission computed tomography
(SPECT)
 Requires collimation within the transverse plane as well as
in the perpendicular direction
 SPECT uses
 Conventional radionuclides such as Tc-99m (140 keV
gamma photon)
 TI-201 that are routinely used in all nuclear medicine
departments

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed Tomographic
 SPECT detectors typically
consist of Na(TI)
scintillators mounted in a
specially designed gantry
 Conventional scintillation,
or gamma camera that
rotates about the patient to
obtain a set of projectional
views over 360°
 Gamma camera obtains
two-dimensional images

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Emission Computed Tomographic
Reconstruction algorithms
Iterative techniques
Where an initial trial solution is successively
modified
Direct analytical methods
Using an equation that relates the measured
projections and the source distribution

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Single Photon Emission

Computed Tomography
(SPECT)

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Single Photon Emission
Computed Tomography (SPECT)
 Most stationary and some mobile gamma cameras
can perform SPECT
 3D representation of the distribution of an
administered radio-pharmaceutical
 SPECT cameras detect only radio-nuclides that
produce a cascaded emission of single photons
 Radio-nuclides do not require an on-site cyclotron
 Isotopes of Tc,TI, In, and Xe are not normally found in the
body

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT
 SPECT has been used mainly in the detection of
tumours and other lesions
 As well as in the evaluation of myocardial function using
TI-201
 Iodine and technetium and provide information on blood
perfusion within the brain and the heart

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT
 SPECT systems uses a single gamma camera
mounted on a specialized mechanical gantry that
automatically rotates the camera 360° around the
patient
 Acquire data in a series of multiple projections at
increments of two or more degrees
 Sequence of projections, an image is reconstructed by
an algorithm called filtered back projection
 Non-target data are mathematically filtered for each
view

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT

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SPECT
 Multiple camera heads are also available
 Dual-head system
 Two 180° opposed camera heads are used
 Acquisition time is reduced by half with no loss in sensitivity
 Triple-head SPECT system further improves
sensitivity
 Variable-angle dual-head systems for improved
positioning during cardiac, brain and whole body
imaging

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT
 Several approaches are being investigated to improve
SPECT sensitivity and resolution
 Novel acquisition geometries are being evaluated for
both discrete detector and camera-based SPECT
systems
 Sensitivity of a SPECT system is mainly determined
by the total area of the detector surface that is viewing
the organ of interest
 Use of banks of discrete detectors could be used to
improve SPECT performance

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT

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SPECT
 Figure b consists of a stationary ring of detectors
 This system uses a unique fan-beam collimator that
rotates in front of the stationary detectors
 Figure c using multi-detector brain system uses a set
of 12 scintillation detectors coupled with a complex
scanning motion to produce tomographic images
 Advantage of discrete detector SPECT systems
 High sensitivity for a single slice of the source
 Disadvantage
 Typically only one or at most a few non-contiguous sections
could be imaged at a time

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SPECT
 Camera-based approaches (Fig. d) for SPECT have
the advantage of generating true three-dimensional
images of the entire organ of interest
 To improve the sensitivity of these systems is to use
more than a single camera (Fig. e)
 A high sensitivity system is illustrated in (Fig. f) which
consists of an annular crystal combined with a
rotation collimator

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT
 Camera-based SPECT
 A pallet, designed to minimize gamma ray
attenuation
 Supports the patient between the two scintillation cameras
 Data are collected with continuous gantry motion during a
360° rotation
 Acquisition times may be varied from 2 to 26 minutes
 Angular samples are stored into 2° frames
 Two Nal (TI) crystals, each having a useful field-of-view of
40.6 cm, are 9.5 mm thick
 Each detector crystal is optically coupled to an array of 37
photo-multiplier tubes

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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SPECT
 Multi-slice projection set conversion and angular
framing are done in real-time by the minicomputer
 Projections may then be stored on disc or magnetic
tape for later image reconstruction
 Parallel hole collimation is used for imaging organs
such as the liver, lungs and the heart
 Brain special fan beam collimators are used to
increase system sensitivity

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Positron Emission
Tomography (PET)

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
 Imaging modality for obtaining in vivo cross-sectional
images of positron-emitting isotopes that
demonstrate biological function, physiology or
pathology
 Radioactive isotope that decays by emitting a
positron, or positive electrons
 Emitted positron almost immediately combines with an
electron
 Two are mutually annihilated with the emission of two
gamma rays
 Two gamma ray photons travel in almost opposite
directions

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 Penetrate the surrounding tissue and are recorded
outside the subject by a circular array of detectors

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 PET provides a non-invasive regional assessment of
many biochemical processes that are essential to the
functioning of the organ being visualized
 Positron (β+) is emitted from a proton-rich nucleus
with a variable amount of kinetic

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 Energy is dissipated in the patient over a range of
tissue of the order of a few millimeters
 β+ combines with a free electron (β–) and the
masses are transmuted to two 511-keV γ rays
 Which are emitted at 180° ± 0.25° to one another to
satisfy conservation of momentum

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 Principal isotopes are 11C, 13N, 15O, and 18F
 PET scan permits measurement of the positron
concentration (µCi/mL) in a small-volume element
within an organ or region of interest
 This metabolic volume is typically 1 cm3

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET

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PET
 Gantry has a large opening (diameter = 65 cm) and
can image both the brain and torso of an adult
patient
 Bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillation crystals, 5.6
mm wide, 30 mm high, and 30 mm deep
 Detect 511 keV annihilation radiation
 Detectors are arranged in a circular ring geometry,
with 512 detectors per ring
 Two rings and produces three scanning planes (two
direct and one cross plane)

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 Each package contains two crystals and two PMTs.
 Centre-to-centre spacing of the crystals is 6.1 mm
 Axially, the two rings are separated by 36 mm
 Besides containing the two BGO crystals and PMTs
 Bucket also contains amplifiers/ discriminators and
other front-end processing electronics
 Original PET scanners were constructed using a
thallium-doped sodium iodide [(NaI (TI)] detector
 Its high efficiency at 511 keV, ease of fabrication, and
low cost made

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET

Data acquisition system for a PET Scanner (after Hoffman et. al. 1985)

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 Individual and analog detector signals are amplified and the
time of interaction is then determined using a constant fraction
discriminator
 A time encoder converts the event into a 14 bit word
containing the detector number and event time within 8 ns
 Energy window is controlled automatically by the
microprocessor located in each detector bucket
 System consists of a fan beam geometry with an angular
sampling of 0.7 degrees
 Linear sampling is 2.9 mm

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 GE 4096 Positron Emission Tomography Camera
System
 High resolution Whole Body PET Scanner
 It uses a detector ring with a diameter of 101 cm
 4096 individual crystals of the scanner are arranged in
eight rings of 512 crystals each
 Onto each set of 16 crystals, two dual photo-multiplier
tubes are attached providing increased positional sampling
 Crystal is made up of Bismuth Germanate (Bi4 Ge3 O12)
and is 6 mm trans-axial, 12 mm axial 30 mm radial in size
 64 individual detector cassettes allow for easy and fast
servicing

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University

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PET
 Axial range of the table is 170 cm
 Height is adjustable from 60 to 120 cm
 Maximum weight the table will support is 300 Ibs
 DAP (Data Acquisition Processor) contains a 68030
Processor and dual Intel i960 RISC Processors
 Radio-nuclide images are inherently very noisy and
in comparison to most other types of images, they
are of very poor quality

KA – MIT – Unit III – March, 2019, Sastra Deemed to be University