Compressed sensing on multi-pinhole collimator SPECT camera for sentinel lymph node biopsy

Abstract

State-of-the-art imaging devices for sentinel lymph node biopsy are either a 1-dimensional gamma probe or more recently 2-dimensional gamma cameras that locate the sentinel lymph node. These devices, however, share difficulties when multiple lymph nodes are close-by and do not allow the estimation of the distance to the lymph nodes, as the tracer activation is projected either to a 1- or 2-dimensional image plane. We propose a method, which reconstructs the tracer distribution using a single image of the detector resulting from a multi-pinhole collimator. Applying standard image processing tools on the detector’s image leads to a reduced, sparse system. Thus, we propose an efficient and reliable compressed sensing strategy, to reconstructs the 3-dimensional tracer distribution using a multi-pinhole collimator and a single detector image. This approach enables better estimation of lymph nodes position and improves the differentiation of close-by lymph nodes.