Monte Carlo simulations in small animal PET imaging

This work is based on the use of an implemented Positron Emission Tomography (PET) simulation system dedicated for small animal PET imaging. Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE), a Monte Carlo simulation platform based on the Geant4 libraries, is well suited for modeling the microPET® FOCUS system and to implement realistic phantoms, such as the MOBY phantom, and data maps from real examinations. The use of a microPET® FOCUS simulation model with GATE has been validated for spatial resolution, counting rates performances, imaging contrast recovery and quantitative analysis. Results from realistic studies of the mouse body using −F and [18F]FDG imaging protocols are presented. These simulations include the injection of realistic doses into the animal and realistic time framing. The results have shown that it is possible to simulate small animal PET acquisitions under realistic conditions, and are expected to be useful to improve the quantitative analysis in PET mouse body studies.