Comparison of reconstruction methods and quantitative accuracy in Siemens Inveon PET scanner

PET reconstruction is key to the quantification of PET data. To our knowledge, no comparative study of reconstruction methods has been performed to date. In this study, we compared reconstruction methods with various filters in terms of their spatial resolution, non-uniformities (NU), recovery coefficients (RCs), and spillover ratios (SORs). In addition, the linearity of reconstructed radioactivity between linearity of measured and true concentrations were also assessed. A Siemens Inveon PET scanner was used in this study. Spatial resolution was measured with NEMA standard by using a 1 mm³ sized ¹⁸F point source. Image quality was assessed in terms of NU, RC and SOR. To measure the effect of reconstruction algorithms and filters, data was reconstructed using FBP, 3D reprojection algorithm (3DRP), ordered subset expectation maximization 2D (OSEM 2D), and maximum a posteriori (MAP) with various filters or smoothing factors (β). To assess the linearity of reconstructed radioactivity, image quality phantom filled with ¹⁸F was used using FBP, OSEM and MAP (β=1.5 & 5×10^-5). The highest achievable volumetric resolution was 2.31 mm³ and the highest RCs were obtained when OSEM 2D was used. SOR was 4.87% for air and 3.97% for water, obtained OSEM 2D reconstruction was used. The measured radioactivity of reconstruction image was proportional to the injected one for radioactivity below 16 MBq/ml when FBP or OSEM 2D reconstruction methods were used. By contrast, when the MAP reconstruction method was used, activity of reconstruction image increased proportionally, regardless of the amount of injected radioactivity. When OSEM 2D or FBP were used, the measured radioactivity concentration was reduced by 53% compared with true injected radioactivity for radioactivity <16 MBq/ml. The OSEM 2D reconstruction method provides the highest achievable volumetric resolution and highest RC among all the tested methods and yields a linear relation between the measured and true concentrations for radioactivity Our data collectively showed that OSEM 2D reconstruction method provides quantitatively accurate reconstructed PET data results.