Fourier re-binning of time-of-flight positron emission tomography data
US7417231B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 22, 2005 |
| Grant date | Aug 26, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 26, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B6/037
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Fast reconstruction methods are provided for 3D time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET), based on 2D data re-binning. Starting from pre-corrected 3D TOF data, a re-binning algorithm estimates for each transaxial slice the 2D TOF sinogram. The re-binned sinograms can then be reconstructed using any algorithm for 2D TOF reconstruction. A TOF-FORE (Fourier re-binning of TOF data) algorithm is provided as an approximate re-binning algorithm obtained by extending the Fourier re-binning method for non-TOF data. In addition, two partial differential equations are identified that must be satisfied by consistent 3D TOF data, and are used to derive exact re-binning algorithms and to characterize the degree of the approximation in TOF-FORE. Numerical simulations demonstrate that TOF-FORE is more accurate than two different TOF extensions of the single-slice re-binning method, and suggest that TOF-FORE will be a valuable tool for practical TOF PET in the range of axial apertures and time resolutions typical of current scanners.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.