Dead-time correction method in quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) reconstruction for various objects and radioactivity distributions

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions readable and executable by a workstation including at least one electronic processor to perform an image reconstruction method, the method comprising:

determining singles rates of a plurality of radiation detectors in a frame of imaging data detected by the radiation detectors;

determining an energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector based on an energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data;

determining a singles live time correction factor for each radiation detector from the singles rate and the energy correction factor determined for the radiation detector;

for each line of response (LOR) of a plurality of LORs connecting pairs of radiation detectors, determining a live time correction factor for the LOR from the determined singles live time correction factors of the pair of radiation detectors connected by the LOR; and

reconstructing the frame of imaging data using the determined LOR live time correction factors.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the energy correction factor (N wgt ) comprises:

determining a function N(E) as a function of energy E where N(E) is a statistical count of triggers produced by a gamma ray of energy E; and

determining the energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector by averaging N(E) over the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2 , further including determining the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on each radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data using Monte Carlo simulation performed on an initial image reconstructed from the frame of imaging data.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2 , wherein the same function N(E) is used for determining the energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector of the plurality of radiation detectors.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2 , wherein determining the function N(E) comprises performing Monte Carlo simulation of energy deposition in radiation detectors from a simulated source to obtain an average value of N at each energy E.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining a low energy trigger correction factor (R) based on a ratio of the portion of the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data that fall in (i) an acquisition energy window (In-Ewindow) versus (ii) an extended energy window (Full-Ewindow) encompassing the acquisition energy window and a lower trigger energy window (Below-Ewindow);

wherein the singles live time correction factor for each radiation detector is determined further from the low energy trigger correction factor (R) determined for the radiation detector.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , further including determining the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on each radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data using Monte Carlo simulation performed on an initial image reconstructed from the frame of imaging data.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the singles live time correction factor for each radiation detector is determined further from a dead time factor due to a processing limit of the radiation detector for singles rates higher than a threshold.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the live time correction factor for each LOR is determined from the determined singles live time correction factors of the pair of radiation detectors connected by the LOR and further from a coincidence factor (L coincidence ) for the LOR that depends on a system singles rate for the frame of imaging data.

10. An image reconstruction method, comprising:

determining singles rates of a plurality of radiation detectors in a frame of imaging data detected by the radiation detectors;

determining an energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector solely based on an energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data;

determining a low energy trigger correction factor (R) based on a ratio of the portion of the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data that fall in (i) an acquisition energy window (In-Ewindow) versus (ii) an extended energy window (Full-Ewindow) encompassing the acquisition energy window and a lower trigger energy window (Below-Ewindow);

determining a singles live time correction factor for each radiation detector from the singles rate, the energy correction factor determined for the radiation detector, and the low energy trigger correction factor;

for each line of response (LOR) of a plurality of LORs connecting pairs of radiation detectors, determining a live time correction factor for the LOR from the determined singles live time correction factors of the pair of radiation detectors connected by the LOR;

reconstructing the frame of imaging data using the determined LOR live time correction factors; and

at least one of displaying the reconstructed frame of imaging data and storing the reconstructed frame of imaging data.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining of the energy correction factor (N wgt ) comprises:

determining a function N(E) where N(E) is a statistical count of triggers produced by a gamma ray of energy E; and

determining the energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector by averaging N(E) over the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data.

12. The method of claim 11 , further including determining the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on each radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data using Monte Carlo simulation performed on an initial image reconstructed from the frame of imaging data.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the same function N(E) is used for determining the energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector of the plurality of radiation detectors.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the function N(E) comprises performing Monte Carlo simulation of energy deposition in radiation detectors from a simulated source to obtain an average value of N at each energy E.

15. The method of claim 10 , further including determining the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on each radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data using Monte Carlo simulation performed on an initial image reconstructed from the frame of imaging data.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the live time correction factor for each LOR is determined from the determined singles live time correction factors of the pair of radiation detectors connected by the LOR and further from a coincidence factor (L coincidence ) for the LOR that depends on a system singles rate for the frame of imaging data.

17. An imaging system, comprising:

an image acquisition device comprising a plurality of radiation detectors; and

at least one electronic processor programmed to:

determine singles rates of a plurality of radiation detectors in a frame of imaging data detected by the radiation detectors;

determine a low energy trigger correction factor (R) based on a ratio of the portion of the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data that fall in (i) an acquisition energy window (In-Ewindow) versus (ii) an extended energy window (Full-Ewindow) encompassing the acquisition energy window and a lower trigger energy window (Below-Ewindow), the low energy trigger correction factor (R) being determined independent of the determined singles are of the plurality of radiation detectors;

determine a singles live time correction factor for each radiation detector from the singles rate and the low energy trigger correction factor (R);

for each line of response (LOR) of a plurality of LORs connecting pairs of radiation detectors, determine a live time correction factor for the LOR from the determined singles live time correction factors of the pair of radiation detectors connected by the LOR; and

reconstruct the frame of imaging data using the determined LOR live time correction factors.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one electronic processor is programmed to:

determine an energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector based on an energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data; and

determine the singles live time correction factor for each radiation detector is further from the energy correction factor determined for the radiation detector.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one electronic processor is programmed to:

determine a function N(E) where N(E) is a statistical count of triggers produced by a gamma ray of energy E; and

determine the energy correction factor (N wgt ) for each radiation detector by averaging N(E) over the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on the radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one electronic processor is programmed to:

determine the energy spectrum distribution of gamma rays incident on each radiation detector during acquisition of the frame of imaging data using Monte Carlo simulation performed on an initial image reconstructed from the frame of imaging data.