Coronal and sagittal slices of SSRB OSEM reconstructed image of mouse injected with 5 MBq of 18F-tetrafluoroborate.  Source: J Nucl Med November 2011;52(11):1741-1747

In a performance evaluation, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association found the NanoPET/CT system to be of significant value in preclinical research, according to an article published in the November issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Istvan Szanda, PhD, of the division of imaging sciences and biomedical engineering at Kings College London, and colleagues evaluated the spatial resolution, sensitivity, counting-rate capabilities and image quality in the system.

Designed to be compact and allow sequential PET and CT imaging in a single session for small animals, the NanoPET/CT is comprised of 12 detector modules, which are split into groups of three and connected to four analog-to-digital converter cards, which then transfer data to a computer.

“The scanner behaved in a stable fashion throughout all experiments, which were facilitated by the highly flexible data acquisition and readout,” the authors wrote. “The energy resolution and temporal resolution are comparable to those of other preclinical PET systems with a similar overall configuration.”

Szanda and colleagues noted that the NanoPET/CT’s performance parameters were similar or exceeded those of comparable systems, and the spatial resolution is the highest among currently available commercial systems.

“The larger number of detector crystals, arranged with a fine pitch, results in excellent spatial resolution, which is the best reported for currently available commercial systems,” the authors wrote. “The absolute sensitivity is high over the field of view. Combined with excellent image quality, these features make the NanoPET/CT a powerful tool for preclinical research.”