Objectives: To assess the significance and practicability of oncology whole body bone SPECT as part of the standard skeletal survey and its impact on the traditional planar whole body bone imaging protocol.

Method: Three consenting oncology patients were injected with a standard adult dose of Tc-99m MDP. Delayed Imaging of whole body sweep and SPECT acquisitions were performed on a Siemens Symbia T6. The patient was positioned supine with arms down with a SPECT scan length covering vortex to thighs. SPECT data was reconstructed and a single whole body zipped file created. Normal SPECT slices along with a cine/MIP of the zipped data were created for review.

Results: Both image data sets were reviewed to assess if SPECT provided any further diagnostic clinical information not apparent in planer imaging.
In our limited review, whole body SPECT did not add extra value to the planar whole body scans performed; it did however demonstrate vertebral involvement with greater resolution. The processing software and system limitations in seamlessly knitting data sets (creating image artefacts) was a major limiting factor in not pursuing further studies.

Conclusion: Both imaging techniques offer differing advantages and limitations, however due to image artefact in the triple knitted SPECT approach with current software technology, it cannot be substituted for whole body imaging at this time.