ASIM is a software package designed as a fast analytic simulator for positron emission scanners. This process uses a monte-carlo approach to allow the rapid generation of multiple realizations with realistic resolution properties. The simulator provides a wide variety of options including the simulation of emission data, image data, randoms, scatter, detector efficiencies, attenuation correction, normalization, and noise propagation.
The simulation toolkit allows for the quick generation of multiple realizations of a given input, providing realistic noise and resolution properties. ASIM has a multitude of options including user definable scanners, geometric and voxel based phantoms, 2D and 3D mode, control over ring difference and span, interleaving, multi-bed acquisition, simulation of random and scatter from outside the FOV, activity decay between bed positions, support for a variety of isotopes, and others.
This software package consists of three essential applications. The core application is an analytic simulator for positron emission scanners. The second application applies noise to a sinogram, and the input can be either generated by ASIM or be voxelized data from an existing scanner. Finally a normalize application can be utilized to apply corrections to sinogram data.
Software released as an open source software project in collaboration with UWMC.
Website programming by Brian Elston.
This work is supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Whitaker Foundation, and NIH grants R01-CA74135, R01-CA115870, R01-CA126593.
Documentation describing ASIM:
ASIM article: Simulating whole-body PET scanning with rapid analytical methods.
Simulating whole-body PET scanning with rapid analytical methods.
