Comparison of ultra-high-resolution parallel-hole collimator materials based on the CdTe pixelated semiconductor SPECT system

Recently, many studies have sought to improve the sensitivity and spatial resolution of pixelated semiconductor detectors. Spatial resolution can be improved by using a pinhole or pixelated parallel-hole collimator with equal hole and pixel sizes. We compared a pinhole to a pixelated parallel-hole collimator and found that the pixelated parallel-hole collimator had higher sensitivity. Additionally, collimator materials with high absorption efficiency are often used because of their high spatial resolution. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of images generated using a pixelated semiconductor single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system simulated with pixelated parallel-hole collimators of lead, tungsten, gold, and depleted uranium. We performed a simulation study of the PID 350 (Ajat Oy Ltd., Finland) CdTe pixelated semiconductor detector, which consists of small pixels (0.35 x 0.35 mm(2)), using a Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) simulation. Sensitivities and spatial resolutions were measured for the four collimator materials. To evaluate overall image performance, a hot-rod phantom was designed using GATE simulation. The results showed that with lead, sensitivity was 425%, 6.53%, and 1028% higher than with tungsten, gold, and depleted uranium, respectively. Spatial resolution using depleted uranium was 3.19%, 4.19%, and 8.01% better than that of gold, tungsten, and lead, respectively. Sensitivity and spatial resolution showed little difference among the four types of collimator materials tested. It was difficult to visually distinguish between the reconstructed images of the hot-rod phantom for different collimator materials. The results are promising for notable cost reductions in collimator manufacturing while avoiding impractical and rare materials. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.