{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T11:19:15Z","timestamp":1788261555021,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"IOP Publishing","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org\/iop-standard\/v1"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/info\/page\/text-and-data-mining"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org\/questions\/alternative-author-rights-policies\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org\/questions\/alternative-author-rights-policies\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Macao Polytechnic University","award":["Grant RP\/FCA-10\/2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Grant RP\/FCA-10\/2025"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["iopscience.iop.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Phys. Med. Biol."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Objective.<\/jats:italic>\n                    The trade-off between detection sensitivity and spatial resolution is a fundamental challenge in designing organ-dedicated Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) collimators. While converging-hole geometries offer a solution, their optimization is often hindered by the lack of flexible computational tools capable of modeling large-scale, non-parallel hole arrays. This study aims to develop an automated geometric modeling framework to facilitate the design and evaluation of complex converging- and diverging-hole collimators within standard Monte Carlo environments.\n                    <jats:italic>Approach.<\/jats:italic>\n                    We developed a specialized modeling framework by implementing custom C++ classes and a vector-based alignment algorithm within GATE. This platform enables automated, orientation-consistent construction of large-scale converging arrays not natively supported by standard implementations. A high-sensitivity pure cone-beam collimator (CBC) was designed using this framework. The evaluation used hot-rod, disc, and Jaszczak phantoms for physical characterization, while XCAT and dedicated brain models were employed for clinical tasks, including cardiac, brain perfusion, and DaTscan SPECT simulations.\n                    <jats:italic>Main results.<\/jats:italic>\n                    The CBC achieved a nearly fourfold sensitivity increase compared to a conventional low-energy high-resolution parallel-hole collimator at a 20 cm radius of rotation, while maintaining comparable spatial resolution. Despite a 52.3% field of view reduction, the CBC yielded a 2.2-fold noise reduction (CV: 11.7% vs 25.9%) and mitigated partial volume effects via geometric magnification. XCAT and brain phantom simulations confirmed enhanced anatomical definition and contrast recovery in cardiac, perfusion, and DaTscan tasks.\n                    <jats:italic>Significance.<\/jats:italic>\n                    This work provides an efficient computational tool for rapid design space exploration of advanced collimator geometries. The results demonstrate that the proposed CBC design offers a significant sensitivity advantage, making it highly suitable for high-performance, small-volume clinical applications such as brain and cardiac molecular imaging.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6560\/ae97b0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T22:52:33Z","timestamp":1786402353000},"page":"175002","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["An automated geometric modeling framework in GATE for the design and optimization of high-sensitivity converging-beam SPECT collimators"],"prefix":"10.1088","volume":"71","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4227-4566","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Fenghua","family":"Weng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0978-9533","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gaoyu","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research and Development Department, Vplus Technology Ltd"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunlong","family":"Zan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research and Development Department, Vplus Technology Ltd"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Greta S P","family":"Mok","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Macau"},{"name":"Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Institute of Collaborative Innovation, University of Macau"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Youngho","family":"Seo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of California"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qiu","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"266","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"pmbae97b0bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1247","DOI":"10.3174\/ajnr.A1175","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Brain single-photon emission CT physics principles","volume":"29","author":"Accorsi","year":"2008","journal-title":"AJNR Am. 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All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.","name":"copyright_information","label":"Copyright Information"},{"value":"2026-02-08","name":"date_received","label":"Date Received","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}},{"value":"2026-08-10","name":"date_accepted","label":"Date Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}},{"value":"2026-09-01","name":"date_epub","label":"Online publication date","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}}]}}