Imaging techniques in nuclear medicine

Nuclear metrology is the physical basis for application and development of nuclear medical procedures. Interdisciplinary cooperation has induced dramatic advances in equipment and methodology, from modern gamma cameras to the most up-to-date positron tomographs with high local and temporal resolution. In data processing, there is a spectrum from initial analog recording to digital data recording with the aid of ever better computer which in turn enabled the development of increasingly complex tomographic image reconstruction and correction methods, up to clinical applications of iterative reconstruction method using absorption and scattered radiation correction on the basis of transmission data as a precondition of quantitative in vivo measurement of activity concentrations. Another important aspect is the development and application of effective methods of quality assurance and equipment calibration, which have since then become common practice. The textbook addresses physicists and engineers in nuclear medicine, but also interested physicians and medical staff, all of whom are given deeper insight into the physical fundamentals of their subject field. (orig.)