Method for reducing nuclear medicine scanning time

A method of acquiring images from a radiation field comprising:

• determining a physical characteristic of an object within the field;
• calculating an optimal scan starting angle, with respect to said object, of a configuration of at least two detectors angularly disposed with respect to each other at a preselected angle, based on the physical characteristic of the object and a trajectory of the configuration of at least two detectors such that the geometric efficiency of the configuration of detectors along the trajectory can be maximized;
• angularly displacing the configuration of detectors with respect to said object, based on the calculated optimal scan_starting angle;
• scanning the object with said configuration of detectors starting at said optimal scan starting angle within the field to detect one or more gamma photons emanating from the object;
• and,
• preparing an image from the one or more detected gamma photons.

A method of acquiring images with a SPECT scanning system comprising:

• determining a spatial location of an object to be scanned;
• calculating an optimal rotational scan starting angle of a configuration of at least two detectors angularly disposed with respect to each other at a preselected angle, based on the spatial location of the object and the trajectory of the configuration of at least two detectors such that the geometrical efficiency of the detectors can be maximized along the trajectory;
• rotationally displacing the configuration of detectors based on the calculated optimal rotational scan starting angle;
• scanning the object with said configuration of detectors starting at said optimal rotational scan starting angle within the field to detect one or more gamma photons emanating from the object;
• and, preparing an image from the one or more detected gamma photons.