Head-to-head comparison of 18F-sodium fluoride coronary PET imaging between a silicon photomultiplier with digital photon counting and conventional scanners

• Published in: Journal of nuclear cardiology 2024-12, Vol.42, p.102045, Article 102045
• Main Authors: Hashimoto, Hidenobu, Kuronuma, Keiichiro, Hyun, Mark C., Han, Donghee, Builoff, Valerie, Cadet, Sebastian, Dey, Damini, Berman, Daniel S., Kwiecinski, Jacek, Slomka, Piotr J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 18F-sodium fluoride coronary PET; EVOLVE; Image quality; Photomultiplier tubes PET; Silicone photomultipliers with digital photon counting PET
• ISSN: 1071-3581; 1532-6551; 1532-6551
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nuclcard.2024.102045

We compared silicone photomultipliers with digital photon counting (SiPM) and photomultiplier tubes (PMT) positron emission tomography (PET) in imaging coronary plaque activity with 18F-sodium fluoride (18F–NaF) and evaluated comprehensively SiPM PET reconstruction settings. In 25 cardiovascular disease patients (mean age 67 ± 12 years), we conducted 18F–NaF PET on a SiPM (Biograph Vision) and conventional PET (Discovery 710) on the same day as part of a prospective clinical trial (NCT03689946). Following administration of 250 MBq of 18F–NaF, patients underwent a contrast-enhanced CT angiography and a 30-min PET acquisition in list-mode on each PET consecutively. Image noise was defined as mean standard deviation of blood pool activity within the left atria. Target-to-background ratio (TBR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were measured within the whole-vessel tubular three-dimensional volumes of interest on the cardiac motion and attenuation-corrected 18F–NaF PET images using dedicated software. There were significant differences in image noise and background activity between the two PETs (Image noise (%), PMT: 7.6 ± 3.7 vs SiPM: 4.0 ± 2.3, P