Dual radioisotopes simultaneous SPECT of 99mTc-tetrofosmin and 123I-BMIPP using a semiconductor detector.

Objective(s): The energy resolution of a cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) solid-state semiconductor detector is about 5%, and is superior to the resolution of the conventional Anger type detector which is 10%. Also, the window width of the high-energy part and of the low-energy part of a photo peak window can be changed separately. In this study, we used a semiconductor detector and examined the effects of changing energy window widths for 99mTc and 123 I simultaneous SPECT. Methods: The energy “centerline” for 99mTc was set at 140.5 keV and that for 123I at 159.0 keV. For 99mTc, the “low-energy-window width” was set to values that varied from 3% to 10% of 140.5 keV and the “high-energy-window width” were independently set to values that varied from 3% to 6% of 140.5 keV. For 123I, the “low energy-window-width” varied from 3% to 6% of 159.0 keV and the high-energy-window width from 3% to 10% of 159 keV. In this study we imaged the cardiac phantom, using single or dual radionuclide, changing energy window width, and comparing SPECT counts as well as crosstalk ratio. Results: The contamination to the 123I window from 99mTc (the crosstalk) was only 1% or less with cutoffs of 4% at lower part and 6% at upper part of 159KeV. On the other hand, the crosstalk from 123I photons into the 99mTc window mostly exceeded 20%. Therefore, in order to suppress the rate of contamination to 20% or less, 99mTc window cutoffs were set at 3% in upper part and 7% at lower part of 140.5 KeV. The semiconductor detector improves separation accuracy of the acquisition inherently at dual radionuclide imaging. In, this phantom study we simulated dual radionuclide simultaneous SPECT by 99mTc-tetrofosmin and 123 I-BMIPP. Conclusion: We suggest that dual radionuclide simultaneous SPECT of 99mTc and 123I using a CZT semiconductor detector is possible employing the recommended windows