Experimental Evaluation of the Performance of HiReSPECT Scanner: a High-Resolution SPECT System for Small Animal Imaging

In this report, the preliminary results of the experimental evaluation of the Performance of HiReSPECT scanner have been illustrated. In order to assess the capability of the scanner in both planar and tomographic modes, three rats were injected with 99mTc, 99mTc-DMSA, and 99mTc-MDP for thyroid scan, kidney scan and bone scan respectively in order to perform planar imaging. In addition, two rats were injected with 99mTc-MIBI and 99mTc-DMSA to perform cardiac and kidney tomographic imaging, respectively. Tomographic and planar scans of the rat organs showed that radioactive distribution in cardiac, kidney, bone and thyroid images exhibited detailed physiologic information of the imaged organs. Due to high resolution performance of the scanner, thyroid lobes are well depicted and distinguished from each other. Results of the evaluation of the planar and tomographic images indicated that HiReSPECT has appropriate imaging capability as an imaging system in biomedical research.