Effect of uncorrected patient movement in conventional and stationary SPECT

The effects of abrupt patient motion during a cardiac SPECT scan were studied with computer simulations. Using the NCAT heart model with respiratory and cardiac motions included, various small rigid motions were simulated. Both conventional SPECT and a novel stationary detector SPECT system were simulated. The stationary detector system had the capability to collect all angular information in two-second intervals. The reconstructed images showed that the stationary SPECT system produced motion artifacts as simple superimposed images due only to motion blur whereas the conventional system manifested potentially severe limited-angle tomography artifacts. A short study on using raw measurements to track the center-of-mass over time was included with discussions on the applicability to motion correction techniques