Image reconstruction algorithm for a spinning strip CZT SPECT camera with a parallel slat collimator and small pixels

This paper discusses the use of small pixels in a spinning CdZnTe single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) camera that is mounted with a parallel slat collimator. In a conventional slat collimation configuration, there is a detector pixel between two adjacent collimator slats. In our design, the pixel size is halved. That is, there are two smaller pixels to replace a regular pixel between two adjacent slats while the collimator remains unchanged. It has an advantage over our older design that uses tilted slats. In order to acquire a complete data set the tilted-slat collimator must spin 360 degrees at each SPECT view while the proposed design requires only 180 degrees at each SPECT view. Computer simulations and phantom experiments have been carried out to investigate the performance of the small-pixel configuration. It is observed that this design has the potential to increase the spatial resolution of the detector while keeping photon counts the same.