Scatter correction for time-of-flight positron emission tomography data
AssigneeSiemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
InventorCharles C. Watson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Correction of time-of-flight (TOF) PET data for scattered radiation explicitly models the TOF of the annihilation photon pairs along their individual scattered paths, yielding a distinct, accurate estimated scatter contribution for each time offset bin of the measured TOF data. This is accomplished by extending the single scatter simulation algorithm to include a new detection efficiency function εTOF,n.
Claims19
A method of correcting for scatter time-of-flight (TOF) PET data measured from an object, comprising the steps of determining a plurality of TOF time-offset bins, estimating a detection efficiency function for each of said plurality of TOF time-offset bins, estimating a single scatter coincidence rate in a pair of PET detectors over a volume of said object for each of said TOF time-offset bins by using a corresponding detection efficiency function in a single scatter simulation algorithm, and using estimated scatter amounts resulting from said estimated single scatter coincidence rate to reduce the effect of scatter on measured TOF-PET data in each of said TOF time-offset bins.
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of computer-executable instructions for correcting for scatter time-of-flight (TOF) PET data measured from an object, comprising instructions for:
- determining a plurality of TOF time-offset bins;
- estimating a detection efficiency function for each of said plurality of TOF time-offset bins;
- estimating a single scatter coincidence rate in a pair of PET detectors over a volume of said object for each of said TOF time-offset bins by using a corresponding detection efficiency function in a single scatter simulation algorithm;
- and
- using estimated scatter amounts resulting from said estimated single scatter coincidence rate to reduce the effect of scatter on measured TOF-PET data in each of said TOF time-offset bins.
A time-of-flight (TOF) PET imaging apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of detectors for measuring TOF PET data from an object undergoing imaging, and
- a processor for correcting for scatter said measured TOF PET data using a single scatter simulation algorithm including a detection efficiency function for each of a plurality of TOF time-offset bins;
- whereby a single scatter coincidence rate in a pair of PET detectors is estimated over a volume of said object for each of said TOF time-offset bins by using a corresponding detection efficiency function in a single scatter simulation algorithm, and estimated scatter amounts resulting from said estimated single scatter coincidence rate are used to reduce the effect of scatter on measured TOF-PET data in each of said TOF time-offset bins.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.