PET and SPECT performance of the Siemens HD3 E.Cam/sup duet/: a 1" Na(I) hybrid camera

Siemens has recently developed a new PET/SPECT dual-head camera, the Ae.cam/sup duet/. This camera employs two HD3 detectors with 2.54 cm (1") deep Na(I) segmented crystals. This design, relatively new for Na(I), is aimed at increasing the stopping power for 511 keV (gamma) rays, while maintaining good spatial resolution for SPECT. The PET performance of this camera was evaluated using the new NEMA NU2-2001 specifications. The effect of the thicker crystal on the cameraʹs performance in the single photon acquisition mode was assessed by comparing its resolution and sensitivity to that obtained with a standard gamma camera with a 0.9525 cm (3/8") deep crystal. The Siemens e.cam was selected for this purpose as it is a very similar dual-head variable-angle system with several hardware and software elements identical to the e.cam/sup duet/ camera.