Several features of microPET® Focus represent improvements over the original model. For example, the scintillation light collection was improved by adding reflectors between fibers, the individual detector crystal cross-section was reduced by 52% to improve the spatial resolution, and the gaps between adjacent crystals were reduced to 78 microns. Evaluation revealed advances in every aspect of system performance.
The study was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s 50th Annual Meeting. The energy resolution of microPET® Focus averaged 18.5% at 511keV, with an average intrinsic spatial resolution of 1.36 mm, and the system proved 50% more sensitive than the previous version. According to Tai and colleagues, “microPET® Focus provides a significant improvement in image resolution over the existing microPET scanners and a significant improvement in system sensitivity,” and the second-generation animal PET system represents “a powerful research tool for molecular imaging.”