Artifact analysis of a far-field coded-aperture gamma camera extended to partially coded field-of-view

Purpose Coded-aperture gamma cameras play an important role for homeland security nowadays.They have limitedfield-of-view(FOV)which is a critical parameter for many applications.The FOV can be potentially increased by extending it to the penumbra area(partially coded FOV).Methods In this study,we analyzed this artifact phenomenon based on simulating a commercial coded-aperture gamma camera.The camera uses a modified uniformly redundant array(MURA)mask with a basic pattern of rank 11.Its opening angle of the basic pattern to the detector center is 26.36◦which is the commonly used non-artifact FOV(NAFOV).In some applications,the radiation source is a far-field single-point source.Thus,we extend its FOV to 40◦by including a part of the partially coded area,which is a trade-off between the FOV and image quality.Analytical calculations and simulation studies were carried out.The system matrix was calculated using the Sidden’s algorithm.The maximum likelihood expectation maximization(MLEM)reconstruction method was employed.Projections and reconstruction results of the point source at different positions were compared.The second moment of inertia was used as thefigure of merit.Results Results show that projections have periodic similarity with a period of NAFOV,and reconstructions also have periodic artifacts,i.e.,fromθtoθ+NAFOV.Artifacts are the most serious at the edge of the NAFOV.The upper and lower artifacts are more serious than the left and right artifacts due to the difference between the horizontal centerline(tungsten)and vertical centerline(holes expect the center unit)of the mask.Conclusions For a point source with high activity,artifacts can be reduced by increasing the iteration number of the MLEM reconstruction.Even at the edge of NAFOV,the point source can be possibly reconstructed thanks to the large size of the position sensitive detector(PSD)used.The noise will significantly increase artifacts,which may lead to error locate the point source with low activity at some specific positions.