title: Simulation study of respiratory-induced errors in cardiac positron emission tomography/computed tomography.
abstract: Heart disease is a leading killer in Canada and positron emission tomography (PET) provides clinicians with in vivo metabolic information for diagnosing heart disease. Transmission data are usually acquired with 68Ge, although the advent of PET/CT scanners has made computed tomography (CT) an alternative option. The fast data acquisition of CT compared to PET may cause potential misregistration problems, leading to inaccurate attenuation correction (AC). Using Monte Carlo simulations and an anthropomorphic dynamic computer phantom, this study determines the magnitude and location of respiratory-induced errors in radioactivity uptake measured in cardiac PET/CT. A homogeneous tracer distribution in the heart was considered. The AC was based on (1) a time-averaged attenuation map, (2) CT maps from a single phase of the respiratory cycle, and (3) CT maps phase matched to the emission data. Circumferential profiles of the heart uptake were compared and differences of up to 24% were found between the single-phase CT-AC method and the true phantom values. Simulation results were supported by a PET/CT canine study which showed differences of up to 10% in the heart uptake in the lung-heart boundary region when comparing 68Ge- to CT-based AC with the CT map acquired at end inhalation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine London, Lawson Health Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 4V2.
authors.forename: Gianna M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: R Glenn
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D004285:Dogs; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D009068:Movement; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*