Purpose: This study evaluates the performance of simultaneous dual-tracer technique (SDTT) in static positron emission tomography (PET) studies using 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose and [¹³N]ammonium as radiotracers.
Procedures: The effects of applying SDTT either to the reconstructed image or directly to the sinogram, different rebinning algorithms, total acquisition time, and frame duration were investigated; first, using a specific phantom and later using an in vivo application of the study of cerebral ischemia.
Results: The best results were obtained using the image method with single-slice rebinning and a total acquisition time of at least 20 min. Frame duration did not affect SDTT performance. The method was also applied in rats with transient cerebral ischemia to simultaneously study cerebral blood flow and cerebral glucose metabolism.
Conclusion: The results encourage the use of SDTT as it has very good potential for examining two different biological processes at the same time utilising rodent PET scanners.