3-D PET image reconstruction based on Monte-Carlo simulation

Three-dimensional projection data for GE Discovery LS PET/CT system can be acquired by GATE, the Monte-Carlo simulation software. The image was reconstructed respectively by 3-D ordered subset expectation maximization (3-D OSEM) and 3-D filtered back projection (3-D FBP) from the 3-D projection data. We compared the results of 3-D FBP and 3-D OSEM in the spatial resolutions, image contrast and signal-to-noise, etc. The results show that the image reconstructed by 3-D OSEM can provide better quality than by 3-D FBP for the 3-D projection data acquired by Monte-Carlo simulation. (authors)