title: Review of SPECT collimator selection, optimization, and fabrication for clinical and preclinical imaging.
abstract: In single photon emission computed tomography, the choice of the collimator has a major impact on the sensitivity and resolution of the system. Traditional parallel-hole and fan-beam collimators used in clinical practice, for example, have a relatively poor sensitivity and subcentimeter spatial resolution, while in small-animal imaging, pinhole collimators are used to obtain submillimeter resolution and multiple pinholes are often combined to increase sensitivity. This paper reviews methods for production, sensitivity maximization, and task-based optimization of collimation for both clinical and preclinical imaging applications. New opportunities for improved collimation are now arising primarily because of (i) new collimator-production techniques and (ii) detectors with improved intrinsic spatial resolution that have recently become available. These new technologies are expected to impact the design of collimators in the future. The authors also discuss concepts like septal penetration, high-resolution applications, multiplexing, sampling completeness, and adaptive systems, and the authors conclude with an example of an optimization study for a parallel-hole, fan-beam, cone-beam, and multiple-pinhole collimator for different applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Information Systems, MEDISIP-IBiTech, Ghent University-iMinds Medical IT, De Pintelaan 185 block B/5, Ghent B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Audenhaege
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Information Systems, MEDISIP-IBiTech, Ghent University-iMinds Medical IT, De Pintelaan 185 block B/5, Ghent B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Holen
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Information Systems, MEDISIP-IBiTech, Ghent University-iMinds Medical IT, De Pintelaan 185 block B/5, Ghent B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefaan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vandenberghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Information Systems, MEDISIP-IBiTech, Ghent University-iMinds Medical IT, De Pintelaan 185 block B/5, Ghent B-9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vanhove
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Metzler
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods