Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Performance Measurements using the NEMA NU 2-2018 Standard: A Systematic Review

The use of many types of imaging (such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET), X-ray, and Computed Tomography (CT)) has been used in therapeutic settings over the past few decades to quantify the body's physiological and metabolic processes. Among them, PET is primarily relevant to provide detailed data regarding molecular and cellular processes. PET systems have played a key role in precise and confident functionality as far as efficient diagnosis and treatment design, and observation, mainly cancer, brain and heart disorders. In order to evaluate the performance of PET systems, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) developed the NU 2-2018 standard, which specifies the requirements. Certain steps of quantification of the major performance measures, such as image quality, Spatial Resolution (SR), sensitivity, noise, and Count Rate (CR), are described in this work, thereby providing an objective way of comparing and validating the quality of the PET scanners across manufacturers and applications. To achieve high-quality images and diagnostic accuracy, PET systems can follow the following protocols, enabling clinicians to make informed decisions. Therefore, it is obvious what the objective of the current review paper is. The NEMA-NU2 2018 standard of PET performance measurement has been explored, and the issues associated with the use of PET performance measurements have been analyzed in this review article using the NEMA-NU2 2018 standard.