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Impact of CT-Based and MRI-Based Attenuation Correction Methods on 18 F-FDG PET Quantification Using PET Phantoms

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Abstract

Purpose:

Integrated PET/MRI imaging system has been widely used in clinical and research applications since it can simultaneously provide functional and structural information. Accurate attenuation correction (AC) is an important challenge that PET/MRI must overcome to obtain correct quantification results and clinical diagnosis. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the radioactivity concentrations produced by computed tomography AC (CTAC) and that produced by magmetic resonance AC (MRAC) and investigate the possibility of comparing the acquired results from different integrated imaging systems.

Methods:

This study used the American College of Radiology (ACR), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and striatal phantom to simulate the attenuation of organs (lung, abdomen, and head). All phantoms were injected with 18 F-FDG and underwent a PET/CT scan under GE Discovery STE and a PET/MRI scan under GE SIGNA. The built-in AC method was adopted for both scanners. Regions-of-interest (ROIs) were manually drawn, and mean activity concentrations in each ROI were calculated. Relative percent difference and linear correlation were used to compare the obtained results from CTAC and MRAC.

Result:

Strong correlation were found in ACR phantom (CMRAC = 0.77 × CCTAC – 76.26 with R2 = 0.96), IEC phantom (CMRAC = 1.73 × CCTAC – 588.03 with R2 = 0.98), and striatal phantom (CMRAC = 0.75 × CCTAC – 830.61 with R2 = 0.99).

Conclusion:

Quantification results of MRAC were strongly correlated with those of CTAC. Results acquired from different integrated imaging systems can be compared using a linear equation.

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(adapted from ACR PET phantom instructions [29])

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Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei, 235, Taiwan

    Cheng-Han Wu & Yueh-Hsun Lu

  2. Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Technology, Yuanpei University of Medical Technology, Hsinchu, 300, Taiwan

    Chun-Yuan Tu

  3. Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, 112, Taiwan

    Li-Chen Shen & Bang-Hung Yang

  4. Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 110, Taiwan

    Yueh-Hsun Lu

  5. Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, 112, Taiwan

    Yueh-Hsun Lu

  6. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan

    Bang-Hung Yang

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  1. Cheng-Han Wu
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Contributions

Writing - review and editing: C-HW, B-HY; Supervision: C-YT, Y-HL; Conceptualization: C-HW, L-CS, B-HY; Methodology: C-HW, L-CS; Formal analysis and investigation: C-HW; Writing - original draft preparation: C-HW.

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Correspondence to Bang-Hung Yang.

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Wu, CH., Tu, CY., Shen, LC. et al. Impact of CT-Based and MRI-Based Attenuation Correction Methods on 18 F-FDG PET Quantification Using PET Phantoms. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 42, 374–381 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-022-00716-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-022-00716-5

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