V. Sossi et al., Effect of shielding the radioactivity outside the field of view on image quality in a dual head coincidence, IEEE NUCL S, 47(4), 2000, pp. 1561-1566
Limited count rate ability and open geometry make the image duality obtaine
d from dual head cameras very sensitive to radioactivity outside the camera
field of view. The spatial distribution of non true events, scatter and ra
ndoms, originating from radioactivity outside the FOV was investigated. The
image quality quantified with the noise equivalent count rate, improved by
up to 58% as a consequence of shielding. Radioactivity in the first 10 cm
outside the FOV was found to contribute most significantly to the detected
events. A modular and easily movable patient body shield was designed.