Sensitivity correction of images obtained with the prototype Clear-PEM in pre-clinical environment

Dissertation presented at Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa to obtain a Master Degree in Biomedical Engineering

Nuclear medicine has, when compared to anatomical imaging techniques, the great advantage of identifying the metabolic activity of the cells, hence becoming a great option for tumour identification. A new technology in this area is Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) that follows the same physical basics of Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The Clear-PEM project, a Portuguese research project, uses this technology and, in alternative to the whole-body exam, only the breast is examined, using two detector plates that rotate around the breast to detect radiation. The prototype has the ability to perform a complementary exam of the axillary region. This scanner is designed to detect small lesions or tumours in early stages, with high resolution and high sensitivity. After the acquisition, the data undergoes a process of reconstruction and corrections. It is our job to study which parameters should be adjusted in order to get the best contrast between lesions and the breast background, as well as meeting the high resolution standards we set to achieve. This work consisted in the correction of some characteristics that might influence image quality. The first correction made was the elimination of the presence of the gaps between the detector crystals’ effects, resulting in the enhancement of the image Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). By varying the energy window of the image acquisitions, it was possible to minimize the effect of scattered photons, and varying the timing window minimized the effect of random coincidences.