Imaging technology for myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography 2018 in Japan

Aim Recently, nuclear cardiology has dramatically advanced by a new technology development such as the device, short-term acquisition system, image reconstruction algorithm and image analysis. Although these innovations have been gradually employed in routine examinations, we did not investigate the current use of image acquisition, image reconstruction, and image analysis with myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (MPS). We investigated the current status of MPS imaging technology in Japan. Methods We carried out a survey using a Web-based questionnaire system, the opening of which was announced via e-mail, and it was available on a website for 3 months. We collected data on the current use of MPS with 201 Tl and/or 99m Tc agents with respect to routine protocols, image acquisition, image reconstruction, and image analysis. Results We received responses to the Web-based questionnaire from 178 and 174 people for 99m Tc and 201 Tl MPS, respectively. The routine protocols of MPS of stress-rest and rest-stress MPS on 1-day protocols with 99m Tc were 41.2% and 14.5%, respectively, and the rest-only scan response rate was 23.7%, whereas that of 201 Tl MPS was 65.9% with stress-rest MPS, 19.0% with rest-only MPS, and 10.9% with stress-rest MPS adding a rest scan 24 h after injection. The filtered back projection (FBP) method is most commonly used image reconstruction method, yielding 70.5% for 99m Tc MPS and 76.8% for 201 Tl MPS, including combined FBP and ordered subset expectation maximization method. The results for no-correction (NC) images were 49.2% with 99m Tc MPS and 55.2% with 201 Tl MPS including the response of NC and combined attenuation correction (AC) and scatter correction (SC) (i.e., ACSC) images. The AC or ACSC images of 99m Tc and 201 Tl were provided by 30–40% of the institutions surveyed. Conclusions We investigated the current status of MPS imaging technology in Japan, and found that although the use of various technical developments has been reported, some of these technologies have not been utilized effectively. Hence, we expect that nuclear medicine technology will be used more effectively to improve diagnosis.