Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41456236›Full record

ArticleEJNMMI physics2025

Assessing small-lesion detectability and acquisition time optimisation in silicon-detector-Based PET: a phantom study.

Nicholas Leybourne, Vineet Prakash, Mohammad Hussein, Andrew Fenwick, Peter Strouhal, Philip Evans, Lucia Florescu

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EJNMMI physics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Nicholas LeybourneCentre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, Stag Hill, Guildford, GU2 7XH, Surrey, Northern Ireland, UK. nl00362@surrey.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-9474-7476
Vineet PrakashDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford, GU2 7XX, Surrey, UK.
Mohammad HusseinNational Physical Laboratory, Department, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, Middlesex, UK.
Andrew FenwickNational Physical Laboratory, Department, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, Middlesex, UK.
Peter StrouhalAlliance Medical Ltd, Iceni Centre, Warwick Technology Park, Warwick, CV34 5AH, Warwickshire, UK.
Philip EvansCentre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, Stag Hill, Guildford, GU2 7XH, Surrey, Northern Ireland, UK.
Lucia FlorescuCentre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, University of Surrey, Stag Hill, Guildford, GU2 7XH, Surrey, Northern Ireland, UK.

Funding

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 2594498
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe adoption of silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors over conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has enhanced overall system performance. In this phantom study, small-lesion detectability was assessed for SiPM-based and PMT-based PET systems for various inhomogeneity sizes, acquisition times and activity contrasts between the inhomogeneity and background.

methodsSix spheres of internal diameters ranging between 4.0 mm and 13.0 mm were integrated into a NEMA/IEC PET Body Phantom and filled with fluorodeoxyglucose, with a sphere activity concentration of 29.2 MBq/L and five sphere-to-background activity concentration ratios between 4 and 20. Scans were performed with an SiPM-based system and a PMT-based PET system for each sphere-to-background activity concentration ratio for acquisition times between 1 and 10 min, and image reconstruction was performed with QClear for both systems. Reconstructed images were evaluated for lesion detectability by a lesion detectability index, contrast-to-noise ratio and lesion detectability Likert scales with validation by comparison with the Rose criterion. A model to estimate the acquisition time for each sphere to be detectable was derived and acquisition time was compared.

resultsThe SiPM-based system demonstrated superior lesion detectability, identifying smaller and less active spheres with shorter acquisition times. For a sphere-to-background activity concentration ratio of 10 and a sphere internal diameter of 6.2 mm, the SiPM-based system achieved a contrast-to-noise ratio of 15.8 and a lesion detectability Likert score of 3, compared to 12.0 and 2, respectively, for the PMT-based system. The acquisition time of the SiPM-based system could be reduced by between 1.6% and 89%, depending on sphere size and sphere-to-background activity concentration ratio. The minimum CNR required for a sphere to achieve a detectability Likert score of 0.5 was 6.3, consistent with the Rose criterion.

conclusionSiPM-based PET has enhanced lesion detectability, especially for smaller, less active regions and for shorter acquisition times. A five-point Likert scale is an effective measure of lesion detectability. Guidance is also provided for choosing the acquisition time as a function of lesion size and activity uptake, and for changes in image quality testing protocols.

Indexed as

Acquisition time reductionImage qualityPET/CT imagingPhantom imagingScanner performanceSilicon photomultipliersSmall-lesion detection

Identifiers

PMID41456236
PMCPMC12858686

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.