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Galve P, Arias-Valcayo F, Villa-Abaunza A, Ibáñez P, Udías JM. UMC-PET: a fast and flexible Monte Carlo PET simulator. Phys Med Biol 2024; 69:035018. [PMID: 38198727 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad1cf9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Objective.The GPU-based Ultra-fast Monte Carlo positron emission tomography simulator (UMC-PET) incorporates the physics of the emission, transport and detection of radiation in PET scanners. It includes positron range, non-colinearity, scatter and attenuation, as well as detector response. The objective of this work is to present and validate UMC-PET as a a multi-purpose, accurate, fast and flexible PET simulator.Approach.We compared UMC-PET against PeneloPET, a well-validated MC PET simulator, both in preclinical and clinical scenarios. Different phantoms for scatter fraction (SF) assessment following NEMA protocols were simulated in a 6R-SuperArgus and a Biograph mMR scanner, comparing energy histograms, NEMA SF, and sensitivity for different energy windows. A comparison with real data reported in the literature on the Biograph scanner is also shown.Main results.NEMA SF and sensitivity estimated by UMC-PET where within few percent of PeneloPET predictions. The discrepancies can be attributed to small differences in the physics modeling. Running in a 11 GB GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPU, UMC-PET is ∼1500 to ∼2000 times faster than PeneloPET executing in a single core Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU W-2155 @ 3.30 GHz.Significance.UMC-PET employs a voxelized scheme for the scanner, patient adjacent objects (such as shieldings or the patient bed), and the activity distribution. This makes UMC-PET extremely flexible. Its high simulation speed allows applications such as MC scatter correction, faster SRM estimation for complex scanners, or even MC iterative image reconstruction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Galve
- Grupo de Física Nuclear, EMFTEL & IPARCOS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, CEI Moncloa, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Université Paris Cité, Inserm, PARCC, F-75015 Paris, France
- Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Arias-Valcayo
- Grupo de Física Nuclear, EMFTEL & IPARCOS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, CEI Moncloa, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Amaia Villa-Abaunza
- Grupo de Física Nuclear, EMFTEL & IPARCOS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, CEI Moncloa, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Paula Ibáñez
- Grupo de Física Nuclear, EMFTEL & IPARCOS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, CEI Moncloa, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain
| | - José Manuel Udías
- Grupo de Física Nuclear, EMFTEL & IPARCOS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, CEI Moncloa, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain
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Stolin AV, Martone PF, Jaliparthi G, Raylman RR. Preclinical positron emission tomography scanner based on a monolithic annulus of scintillator: initial design study. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2017; 4:011007. [PMID: 28097210 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.4.1.011007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Positron emission tomography (PET) scanners designed for imaging of small animals have transformed translational research by reducing the necessity to invasively monitor physiology and disease progression. Virtually all of these scanners are based on the use of pixelated detector modules arranged in rings. This design, while generally successful, has some limitations. Specifically, use of discrete detector modules to construct PET scanners reduces detection sensitivity and can introduce artifacts in reconstructed images, requiring the use of correction methods. To address these challenges, and facilitate measurement of photon depth-of-interaction in the detector, we investigated a small animal PET scanner (called AnnPET) based on a monolithic annulus of scintillator. The scanner was created by placing 12 flat facets around the outer surface of the scintillator to accommodate placement of silicon photomultiplier arrays. Its performance characteristics were explored using Monte Carlo simulations and sections of the NEMA NU4-2008 protocol. Results from this study revealed that AnnPET's reconstructed spatial resolution is predicted to be [Formula: see text] full width at half maximum in the radial, tangential, and axial directions. Peak detection sensitivity is predicted to be 10.1%. Images of simulated phantoms (mini-hot rod and mouse whole body) yielded promising results, indicating the potential of this system for enhancing PET imaging of small animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander V Stolin
- West Virginia University , Center for Advanced Imaging, Department of Radiology, One Medical Center Dr., Box 9236, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Peter F Martone
- West Virginia University , Center for Advanced Imaging, Department of Radiology, One Medical Center Dr., Box 9236, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Gangadhar Jaliparthi
- West Virginia University , Center for Advanced Imaging, Department of Radiology, One Medical Center Dr., Box 9236, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Raymond R Raylman
- West Virginia University , Center for Advanced Imaging, Department of Radiology, One Medical Center Dr., Box 9236, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
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