# High performance SPECT System for Cardiac Imaging

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $792,592

## Abstract

Abstract
Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) is still the mainstay for cardiac screening. Current
state of the art cardiac SPECT systems (Spectrum-Dynamic's D-SPECT and GE's Discovery NM530) use CZT
semiconductor detectors which results in a number of cost-performance tradeoffs. They are based on the use of
large collimator holes (compared with collimators used in standard dual head gamma camera) to increase the
system sensitivity that may result in poor image resolution when no resolution recovery applied. The main
objective of this project is to develop a high-sensitivity and high-spatial resolution SPECT system for cardiac
applications. To make such an organ-specific SPECT system widely available however, the development cost
has to be practical so that the system acquisition by the medical centers, hospitals and even physician offices is
not cost-prohibitive. It should be mentioned that the CZT-based systems are much more expensive than a
standard dual head gamma-camera. In this grant we plan to improve the performance of Cardiac SPECT without
increasing the development cost. In order to achieve our goals we envision a SPECT system build from 8-10
mm thick conventional scintillators (CsI:Tl or NaI:Tl) with one-sided readout using silicon multipliers (SiPM)
arrays. Owing to their high density, availability, and price which is at least an order of magnitude smaller than
CZT, CsI (or NaI) is an attractive scintillator to use for out project. Our goal is to achieve high spatial image
resolution and 0.1% scanner sensitivity which is about 10-times larger than dual-head gamma camera. We will
utilize laser-induced optical barriers (LIOB) technique to fabricate the scintillator arrays.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10312007
- **Project number:** 5R01HL145160-04
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Hamid Sabet
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $792,592
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-12-15 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10312007

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10312007, High performance SPECT System for Cardiac Imaging (5R01HL145160-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10312007. Licensed CC0.

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