The first generation prototype of a surgical PET imaging probe system

Our ultimate goal is to provide continuously updated 3-dimensional reconstructed PET images during surgery that are re-projected in real time onto a plane whose orientation is driven by a tracking device. The intra-operative PET imaging probe system can be viewed as a handheld, clinician-guided camera capable of seeing the distribution of the radiotracer. We present the first generation of the PET imaging probe system. The prototype of the first generation of the PET imaging probe system consists of a pixelated NaI(Tl) detector and a partial ring detector. A variant of a one-pass list-mode ordered subsets ML algorithm that was integrated with a row-action ML algorithm was used to reconstruct images. Parallel image reconstruction using a graphics card was used to speed up image reconstruction. The spatial resolution in the transverse direction was close to the NaI(Tl) crystal size. The elongation in the longitudinal direction due to limited angle tomography was not severe.