  In SPECT imaging, the identification and detection of a lesion rely either on
visual inspection of the reconstructed tomographic images or post-processing
image analysis methods. Both approaches do not provide the capability to
attribute a quantifiable uncertainty to this identification. We present a
framework which allows the quantification of this uncertainty and the
assignment of a level of confidence to the detection of hotspots. Based on the
"Reconstructed Image from Simulations Ensemble" (RISE), an image reconstruction
method, the presented scheme uses the set of projection measurements to derive
the parameters defining the uptake of radioactivity, the position and the size
of a hotspot, and as well as their associated uncertainties. The capabilities
of the proposed method are demonstrated with projection data from GATE phantom
simulations.
