[Effect of Whole-body Continuous Scanning Speed of Bone Scintigraphy on the Detectability of Vertebral Lesions].

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the scanning speed of whole-body scans on the detectability of positive vertebral bone images in bone scintigraphy.

Methods: We used SIM² bone phantom to obtain planar images equivalent to scanning speeds of 15, 17, and 20 cm/min. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to evaluate lesion detectability and average count (Ct)/pixel, contrast ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the normal vertebral body and the simulated tumor site were measured.

Results: The average area under the ROC curves (AUC) was 0.936, 0.929, and 0.915 at speeds of 15, 17, and 20 cm/min, respectively. The average AUC at 20 cm/min was significantly lower than that at 15 cm/min (p<0.05) . However, no other significant differences were found (p=0.448, 0.139). The average Ct/pixel and CNR decreased at 15, 17, and 20 cm/min. The contrast ratio did not change.

Conclusion: The results showed that increasing the scan speed from 15 cm/min to 17 cm/min had no effect on the detection of vertebral lesions. Thus, it is possible to reduce the scan time, albeit slightly.