NEMA NU 4-2008 comparison of preclinical PET imaging systems.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standard NU 4-2008 for performance measurements of small-animal tomographs was recently published. Before this standard, there were no standard testing procedures for preclinical PET systems, and manufacturers could not provide clear specifications similar to those available for clinical systems under NEMA NU 2-1994 and 2-2001. Consequently, performance evaluation papers used methods that were modified ad hoc from the clinical PET NEMA standard, thus making comparisons between systems difficult.


METHODS
We acquired NEMA NU 4-2008 performance data for a collection of commercial animal PET systems manufactured since 2000: microPET P4, microPET R4, microPET Focus 120, microPET Focus 220, Inveon, ClearPET, Mosaic HP, Argus (formerly eXplore Vista), VrPET, LabPET 8, and LabPET 12. The data included spatial resolution, counting-rate performance, scatter fraction, sensitivity, and image quality and were acquired using settings for routine PET.


RESULTS
The data showed a steady improvement in system performance for newer systems as compared with first-generation systems, with notable improvements in spatial resolution and sensitivity.


CONCLUSIONS
Variation in system design makes direct comparisons between systems from different vendors difficult. When considering the results from NEMA testing, one must also consider the suitability of the PET system for the specific imaging task at hand.
Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. goertzea@cc.umanitoba.ca
Andrew L
AL
Goertzen
Qinan
Q
Bao
Mélanie
M
Bergeron
Eric
E
Blankemeyer
Stephan
S
Blinder
Mario
M
Cañadas
Arion F
AF
Chatziioannou
Katherine
K
Dinelle
Esmat
E
Elhami
Hans-Sonke
HS
Jans
Eduardo
E
Lage
Roger
R
Lecomte
Vesna
V
Sossi
Suleman
S
Surti
Yuan-Chuan
YC
Tai
Juan José
JJ
Vaquero
Esther
E
Vicente
Darin A
DA
Williams
Richard
R
Laforest
D000818:Animals; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D051379:Mice; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011786:Quality Control; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012952:Societies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors