INVESTIGATION OF THE COUNT RATE PERFORMANCE OF GENERAL-ELECTRIC ADVANCE POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPH

A series of 2D and 3D count rate measurements been carried out on the Advance PET system. measurements include: NEMA standard protocols; sim ultaneous imaging of two small vials containing [O-15]water and [F-18] ; a cardiac insert placed in a water filled elliptical tank; two diffe rent head sized cylindrical tanks; and a Hoffman 3D phantom. The data were processed with and without dead time and scatter corrections. Plo ts were made of the total count rate, randoms, trues + scatter, scatte r corrected trues, and noise equivalent count rate as a function of to tal activity in the machine and as the mu Ci/cc in the phantoms. The a ccuracy of deadtime corrections was also measured. In 2D mode, the NEM A standard protocol resulted in maximum 'trues' count rates of 540,000 cps in high sensitivity mode. In 3D mode the head sized cylindrical p hantoms yielded a maximum trues rate of approximately 950,000 cps. Rec overy of the water half-life was accurate with up to 50 mCi for the ca rdiac insert in 2D mode.