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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/199467
Implementation and automatization of validation tests for the simulation of Nuclear Medicine studies
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Abstract
Nowadays, Nuclear Medicine techniques are of great importance in the clinical practice, especially
in Neurology and Oncology, for both Diagnostics and Treatment. Focusing on imaging techniques,
quantitative methods have shown to be an alternative to the traditional interpreting of images to
give support to the clinician for a more accurate diagnostic. The lack of ground-truths has difficulted
the implementation of these quantitative methods in the clinical practice, and consequently the use
of simulation has raised as a solution for obtaining reference images.
In particular, SimPET is a platform that aims to simulate and reconstruct Positron Emission
Tomograph (PET) images while being able to model any scanner by introducing its parameters.
The introduction of a new scanner requires a validation process to ensure it works in accordance
of the manufacturer’s specifications. To do so, the NEMA protocols are a set of tests to allow a
comparison with these specifications. In this work we are developing an implementation in Python
and automatization of these tests to allow the easy validation of new scanners for SimPET.
Four of the five specified tests were implemented, concerning the Spatial Resolution and the
Sensitivity of the tomograph, and the Image Quality and the fraction of Scattering of the
reconstructed images.
The results were tested and compared with the experimental ones of the Discovery ST scanner.
The results show that the values of Resolution and Sensitivity do not strictly coincide with the
experimental ones, and further work on tuning the adjustments of the simulation need to be done.
For the Image Quality test we obtained parameters that seem to be in accordance with the
theoretical behaviour, but the lack of comparative results does not allow us to extract relevant
conclusions. In the case of the Scatter Fraction test, we have shown that the suggested method
does not work for very low activities. Thus, due to time and computational limitations further work
needs to be done in the development of the techniques, but this work has shown the feasibility of
its implementation.
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Treballs Finals de Grau d'Enginyeria Biomèdica. Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut. Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2022-2023. Tutor/Director: Niñerola Baizán, Aida, Aguiar Fernández, Pablo, Silva-Rodríguez, Jesús
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FARRÉ MELERO, Arnau. Implementation and automatization of validation tests for the simulation of Nuclear Medicine studies. [consulted: 8 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/199467