title: SPECT imaging of fluorine-18.
abstract: The objective of this work was to determine the potential clinical usefulness of SPECT to image 511-keV annihilation photons.
  
  
  METHODS
  A triple-headed gamma camera equipped with ultra-high-energy collimators was used to image 18F. Sensitivity measurements were carried out and the FWHM and FWTM were determined in air and for a unit-density scattering medium. Additionally, tomographic phantom studies were acquired to evaluate image quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sensitivities of the three cameras were, for all practical purposes, identical. At a source-to-collimator distance of 100 mm, the FWHM and FWTM were 13 and 29 mm, respectively. A tomographic phantom study demonstrated that spheres with a diameter of 20 mm were well resolved when filled with 18F activity and placed inside a water-filled phantom.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The triple-headed SPECT camera in this investigation is a practical means of acquiring tomographic 18F images. The reconstructed slices were of sufficient quality to be of value in some clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68198-1045, USA.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Leichner
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Holdeman
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Valentino
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lexa
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Dalrymple
mesh_terms: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D015902:Gamma Cameras; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008961:Models, Structural; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes