Monte Carlo modelling in Positron Emission Tomography

Gate (Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission), based on Monte Carlo methods allows simulation of full PET-acquisition processes. Gate results for one of CRC’s tomographs, the HR+, are in good agreement with real data, with a maximum mean difference of 6%. Monte Carlo simulations are highly CPU-consuming, so we had to parallelize simulations on the recently setup cluster. In order to use Gate properly on the cluster, the optimal number of CPU was determined. We studied the performances of the small animal microPET FOCUS 120 in terms of counting rate capability (NECR index) for comparison with future simulated results.