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Monte Carlo Simulation of Nuclear Medicine Imaging Systems

Sarrut, David and Ljungberg, Michael LU (2022) In Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering 1.
Abstract
This chapter describes the use of the Monte Carlo method to simulate nuclear medicine imaging systems, mainly the scintillation camera – SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) – systems that are major tools in nuclear medicine to produce images of activity distributions. The first part describes the principles behind the Monte Carlo method, in particular, how to select a stochastic variable from known probability distribution functions using uniform random numbers and, in more detail, how to sample photon interaction processes such as sampling photon path-length, photon interactions and scattering resulting in change in energy and direction. The improvement in calculation efficiency by... (More)
This chapter describes the use of the Monte Carlo method to simulate nuclear medicine imaging systems, mainly the scintillation camera – SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) – systems that are major tools in nuclear medicine to produce images of activity distributions. The first part describes the principles behind the Monte Carlo method, in particular, how to select a stochastic variable from known probability distribution functions using uniform random numbers and, in more detail, how to sample photon interaction processes such as sampling photon path-length, photon interactions and scattering resulting in change in energy and direction. The improvement in calculation efficiency by implementation of various variance-reduction methods is also described. The second part describes in more detail two Monte Carlo codes, SIMIND and GATE, that for many years have been widely used for simulation of medical imaging. The potentials of these programs and how a user runs these programs are described by several explicit examples. Also described are applications where these codes have been useful, such as in image reconstruction, modelling of scatter and collimator septum penetration effects, and evaluation of pre-clinical imaging systems. Some perspectives, such as artificial intelligence approaches, SiPM-based SPECT/PET systems, or the electronically collimated Compton camera are also discussed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Handbook of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging for Physicists : Instrumentation and Imaging Procedures - Instrumentation and Imaging Procedures
series title
Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
editor
Ljungberg, Michael
volume
1
edition
1
pages
29 pages
publisher
CRC Press
ISBN
9780429489556
9781138593268
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
01abb20d-ef93-49b8-b8a1-e2eda5839267
alternative location
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9780429489556-29/monte-carlo-simulation-nuclear-medicine-imaging-systems-david-sarrut-michael-ljungberg?context=ubx&refId=baeab820-b000-4a2d-bc7f-6b6012ae879c
date added to LUP
2023-05-26 11:17:13
date last changed
2023-05-26 11:17:13
@inbook{01abb20d-ef93-49b8-b8a1-e2eda5839267,
  abstract     = {{This chapter describes the use of the Monte Carlo method to simulate nuclear medicine imaging systems, mainly the scintillation camera – SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) – systems that are major tools in nuclear medicine to produce images of activity distributions. The first part describes the principles behind the Monte Carlo method, in particular, how to select a stochastic variable from known probability distribution functions using uniform random numbers and, in more detail, how to sample photon interaction processes such as sampling photon path-length, photon interactions and scattering resulting in change in energy and direction. The improvement in calculation efficiency by implementation of various variance-reduction methods is also described. The second part describes in more detail two Monte Carlo codes, SIMIND and GATE, that for many years have been widely used for simulation of medical imaging. The potentials of these programs and how a user runs these programs are described by several explicit examples. Also described are applications where these codes have been useful, such as in image reconstruction, modelling of scatter and collimator septum penetration effects, and evaluation of pre-clinical imaging systems. Some perspectives, such as artificial intelligence approaches, SiPM-based SPECT/PET systems, or the electronically collimated Compton camera are also discussed.}},
  author       = {{Sarrut, David and Ljungberg, Michael}},
  booktitle    = {{Handbook of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging for Physicists : Instrumentation and Imaging Procedures}},
  editor       = {{Ljungberg, Michael}},
  isbn         = {{9780429489556}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  publisher    = {{CRC Press}},
  series       = {{Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering}},
  title        = {{Monte Carlo Simulation of Nuclear Medicine Imaging Systems}},
  url          = {{https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9780429489556-29/monte-carlo-simulation-nuclear-medicine-imaging-systems-david-sarrut-michael-ljungberg?context=ubx&refId=baeab820-b000-4a2d-bc7f-6b6012ae879c}},
  volume       = {{1}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}