Abstract
The utility of F-18-deoxyglucose (F-18-FDG) in oncology, cardiology, and neurology has generated great interest in a more economical ways of imaging F-18-FDG than conventional PET scanners. The main thrust of this work is to investigate the potential use of LaBr3:Ce materials in a low-cost FDG-SPECT system compared to NaI(Tl) using GATE Monte Carlo simulation. System performance at 140 keV and 511 keV was assessed using energy spectra, system sensitivity and count rate performance. Comparison of the LaBr3: Ce and NaI(Tl) crystal-based systems showed 4.5% and 8.9% higher system sensitivity for the LaBr3:Ce at 140 keV and 511 keV, respectively. The LaBr3:Ce scintillator significantly improves intrinsic count rate performance due to its fast decay time with respect to NaI(Tl). In conclusion, because LaBr3:Ce crystal combines excellent intrinsic count rate performance with slightly increased system sensitivity, it has the potential to be used for F-18-FDG -SPECT systems.