Paper Info
Title
A parallel Monte Carlo code for planar and SPECT imaging: implementation, verification and applications in 131I SPECT
Abstract
This paper reports the implementation of the SIMIND Monte Carlo code on an IBM SP2 distributed memory parallel computer. Basic aspects of running Monte Carlo particle transport calculations on parallel architectures are described. Our parallelization is based on equally partitioning photons among the processors and uses the Message Passing Interface (MPI) library for interprocessor communication and the Scalable Parallel Random Number Generator (SPRNG) to generate uncorrelated random number streams. These parallelization techniques are also applicable to other distributed memory architectures. A linear increase in computing speed with the number of processors is demonstrated for up to 32 processors. This speed-up is especially significant in Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) simulations involving higher energy photon emitters, where explicit modeling of the phantom and collimator is required. For 131I, the accuracy of the parallel code is demonstrated by comparing simulated and experimental SPECT images from a heart/thorax phantom. Clinically realistic SPECT simulations using the voxel-man phantom are carried out to assess scatter and attenuation correction.
Year
DOI
Venue
2002
10.1016/S0169-2607(01)00121-3
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
Keywords
Field
DocType
SPECT,131I imaging,Monte Carlo,Parallel computing
Computer science,Imaging phantom,Message Passing Interface,Computational science,Artificial intelligence,Correction for attenuation,Computer vision,Monte Carlo method,Collimator,Simulation,Parallel algorithm,Distributed memory,Spect imaging
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
67
2
0169-2607
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
8
1.11
5
Authors
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yuni K. Dewaraja1122.92
Michael Ljungberg281.11
Amitava Majumdar311019.21
Abhijit Bose421920.83
Kenneth F. Koral513833.25