Optimization of PET system design for lesion detection

Traditionally, the figures of merit used in designing a positron emission t omography (PET) scanner are spatial resolution, noise equivalent count rate , noise equivalent sensitivity, etc. These measures, however, do not direct ly reflect the lesion detectability using the PET scanner. Here we propose to optimize PET scanner design directly for lesion detection. The signal-to -noise ratio (SNR) of lesion detection can be easily computed using the the oretical expressions that we have previously derived. Because no time-consu ming Monte Carlo simulation is needed, the theoretical expressions allow ev aluation of a large range of parameters. The PET system parameters can then be chosen to achieve the maximum SNR for lesion detection. The simulation study shown in this paper was focused on a single ring PET scanner without depth of interaction measurement. It can be extended to multiring (two- or three-dimensional) PET scanners and detectors with depth of interaction mea surement.