Systems and methods for image quality enhancement for multi-head camera
A nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, detector units, and at least one processor. The gantry defines a bore. The detector units are mounted to the gantry and configured to rotate as a group with the gantry around the bore in rotational steps, with each detector unit configured to sweep about a corresponding axis and acquire imaging information while sweeping about the corresponding axis. The at least one processor is coupled to the detector units and configured to determine a region of interest (ROI) of the object to be imaged; determine a sweeping configuration based on the size of the ROI; determine a rotational movement configuration for the gantry using the determined sweeping configuration; and control the gantry and the set of detector units to utilize the determined rotational movement and sweeping configurations during acquisition of imaging information.
1. A nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system comprising:
a gantry defining a bore configured to accept an object to be imaged, the gantry configured to rotate about the bore;
plural detector units mounted to the gantry and configured to rotate as a group with the gantry around the bore in rotational steps, each detector unit configured to sweep about a corresponding axis and acquire imaging information while sweeping about the corresponding axis; and
at least one processor operably coupled to at least one of the detector units, the at least one processor configured to:
determine a region of interest (ROI) of the object to be imaged;
determine a sweeping configuration based on the size of the ROI;
determine a rotational movement configuration for the gantry using the determined sweeping configuration; and
control the gantry and the set of detector units to utilize the determined rotational movement and sweeping configurations during acquisition of imaging information.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sweeping configuration is determined to result in a predetermined percentage of projection pixels receiving information from the ROI.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined percentage varies among at least some of the detector units.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to acquire a preliminary scan of the ROI, and use the preliminary scan to determine the size of the ROI.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive information from a user corresponding to a boundary of the ROI, and to use the information to determine the size of the ROI.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to use a predetermined relationship between a number of steps and ROI size to determine the sweeping configuration.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to use a lookup table to determine a number of rotational steps to be used.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the rotational movement configuration to provide a minimal number of views for each rotation step.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the rotational movement configuration to provide a minimal number of views summed over all rotation steps.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a total number of rotational steps to be taken by the gantry before determining the sweeping configurations.
11. A method for acquiring imaging information with a nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system comprising a gantry and plural detector units, the gantry defining a bore configured to accept an object to be imaged, the gantry configured to rotate about the bore, the plural detector units mounted to the gantry and configured to rotate as a group with the gantry around the bore, each detector unit configured to sweep about a corresponding axis and acquire imaging information while sweeping about the corresponding axis, the method comprising:
determining a region of interest (ROI) of the object to be imaged;
determining a sweeping configuration using the size of the ROI;
determining a rotational movement configuration for the gantry using the determined sweeping configuration; and
controlling the gantry and the set of detector units to utilize the determined rotational movement and sweeping configurations during acquisition of imaging information.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining the sweeping configuration to result in a predetermined percentage of projection pixels receiving information from the ROI.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined percentage varies among at least some of the detector units.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising acquiring a preliminary scan of the ROI, and using the preliminary scan to determine the size of the ROI.
15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving information from a user corresponding to a boundary of the ROI, and using the information to determine the size of the ROI.
16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising using a predetermined relationship between a number of steps and ROI size to determine the sweeping configuration.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising using a lookup table to determine a number of rotational steps to be used.
18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining the rotational movement configuration to provide a minimal number of views for each rotation step.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining the rotational movement configuration to provide a minimal number of views summed over all rotation steps.
20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining a total number of rotational steps to be taken by the gantry before determining the sweeping configurations.