Purpose

To investigate whether time-trends of enhanced [18F]Fluoromethylcholine ([18F]FCH) in lymph nodes (LN) of prostate cancer (PCa) patients can help to discriminate reactive from malignant ones, and whether single time point standardized uptake value (SUV) measurements also suffice.

Procedures

25 PCa patients with inguinal (presumed benign) and enlarged pelvic LN (presumed malignant) showing enhanced [18F]FCH uptake at dual-phase PET-CT were analyzed. Associations between LN status (benign versus malignant) and SUVmax and SUVmeanA50, determined at 2 min (early) and 30 min (late) post injection, were assessed. We considered two time-trends of [18F]FCH uptake: type A (SUV early > SUV late) and type B (SUV late ≥ SUV early). Histopathology and/or follow-up were used to confirm the assumption that LN with type A pattern are benign, and LN with type B pattern malignant.

Results

Analysis of 54 nodes showed that LN status, time-trends, and ‘late’ (30 min p.i.) SUVmax and SUVmeanA50 parameters were strongly associated (P<0.0001). SUVmax relative difference was the best LN status predictor. All but one inguinal LN showed a decreasing [18F]FCH uptake over time (pattern A), while 95% of the pelvic nodes presented a stable or increasing uptake (pattern B) type.

Conclusions

Time-trends of enhanced [18F]FCH uptake can help to characterize lymph nodes in prostate cancer patients. Single time-point SUV measurements, 30 min p.i., may be a reasonable alternative for predicting benign versus malignant status of lymph nodes, but this remains to be validated in non-enlarged pelvic lymph nodes.

Background

Positron emission tomography (PET) may be useful for defining the gross tumour volume for radiation treatment planning and for response monitoring of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The purpose of this study was to compare tumour sizes obtained from CT- and various more commonly available PET-based tumour delineation methods to pathology findings.

Methods

Retrospective non-respiratory gated whole body [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET/CT studies from 19 NSCLC patients were used. Several (semi-)automatic PET-based tumour delineation methods and manual CT-based delineation were used to assess the maximum tumour diameter.

Results

50%, adaptive 41% threshold-based and contrast-oriented delineation methods showed good agreement with pathology after removing two outliers (R2=0.82). An absolute SUV threshold of 2.5 also showed a good agreement with pathology after the removal of 5 outliers (R2: 0.79), but showed a significant overestimation in the maximum diameter (19.8 mm, p<0.05). Adaptive 50%, relative threshold level and gradient-based methods did not show any outliers, provided only small, non-significant differences in maximum tumour diameter (<4.7 mm, p>0.10), and showed fair correlation (R2>0.62) with pathology. Although adaptive 70% threshold-based methods showed underestimation compared to pathology (36%), it provided the best precision (SD: 14%) together with good correlation (R2=0.81). Good correlation between CT delineation and pathology was observed (R2=0.77). However, CT delineation showed a significant overestimation compared with pathology (3.8 mm, p<0.05).

Conclusions

PET-based tumour delineation methods provided tumour sizes in agreement with pathology and may therefore be useful to define the (metabolically most) active part of the tumour for radiotherapy and response monitoring purposes.

Performance of two supervised cluster analysis (SVCA) algorithms for extracting reference tissue curves was evaluated to improve quantification of dynamic (R)-[11C]PK11195 brain positron emission tomography (PET) studies. Reference tissues were extracted from images using both a manually defined cerebellum and SVCA algorithms based on either four (SVCA4) or six (SVCA6) kinetic classes. Data from controls, mild cognitive impairment patients, and patients with Alzheimer's disease were analyzed using various kinetic models including plasma input, the simplified reference tissue model (RPM) and RPM with vascular correction (RPMVb). In all subject groups, SVCA-based reference tissue curves showed lower blood volume fractions (Vb) and volume of distributions than those based on cerebellum time-activity curve. Probably resulting from the presence of specific signal from the vessel walls that contains in normal condition a significant concentration of the 18 kDa translocation protein. Best contrast between subject groups was seen using SVCA4-based reference tissues as the result of a lower number of kinetic classes and the prior removal of extracerebral tissues. In addition, incorporation of Vb in RPM improved both parametric images and binding potential contrast between groups. Incorporation of Vb within RPM, together with SVCA4, appears to be the method of choice for analyzing cerebral (R)-[11C]PK11195 neurodegeneration studies.

Background

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) CO2-reactivity and oxygen-15 positron emission tomography (PET) have both been used to measure the cerebral haemodynamic state in patients who may have a compromised blood flow. Our purpose was to investigate whether PET and TCD identify the same patients with an impaired flow state of the brain in patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion.

Methods

Patients with recent transient ischaemic attack or minor ischaemic stroke associated with ICA occlusion underwent TCD with measurement of CO2-reactivity and oxygen-15 PET within a median time interval of 6 days.

Results

We included 24 patients (mean age 64 ± 10 years). Seventeen (71%) patients had impaired CO2-reactivity (≤20%), of whom six had absent reactivity (0%) or steal (<0%) in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the ICA occlusion. PET of the perfusion state of the hemisphere ipsilateral to the ICA occlusion demonstrated stage 1 haemodynamic compromise (decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) or increased cerebral blood volume (CBV) without increased oxygen extraction fraction (OEF)) in 13 patients and stage 2 (increased OEF) in 2 patients. In 12 patients (50%), there was agreement between TCD and PET, indicating haemodynamic compromise in 10 and a normal flow state of the brain in 2 patients. There was no significant correlation between CO2-reactivity and CBF ipsilateral/contralateral hemispheric ratio (r = 0.168, p value = 0.432), OEF ratio (r = −0.242, p value = 0.255), or CBV/CBF ratio (r = −0.368, p value = 0.077).

Conclusions

In patients with symptomatic ICA occlusion, identification of an impaired flow state of the brain by PET and TCD CO2-reactivity shows concordance in only half of the patients.

Purpose

P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is an efflux transporter involved in transport of several compounds across the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Loss of Pgp function with increasing age may be involved in the development of age-related disorders, but this may differ between males and females. Pgp function can be quantified in vivo using (R)-[11C]verapamil and positron emission tomography. The purpose of this study was to assess global and regional effects of both age and gender on BBB Pgp function.

Procedures

Thirty-five healthy men and women in three different age groups were included. Sixty minutes dynamic (R)-[11C]verapamil scans with metabolite-corrected arterial plasma input curves were acquired. Grey matter time–activity curves were fitted to a validated constrained two-tissue compartment plasma input model, providing the volume of distribution (VT) of (R)-[11C]verapamil as outcome measure.

Results

Increased VT of (R)-[11C]verapamil with aging was found in several large brain regions in men. Young and elderly women showed comparable VT values. Young women had higher VT compared with young men.

Conclusions

Decreased BBB Pgp is found with aging; however, effects of age on BBB Pgp function differ between men and women.

Introduction

Positron Emission Tomography - Computer Tomography (PET-CT) is an interesting imaging technique to visualize Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) activity using specific PET tracers. Previous studies have shown that the PET tracers [18F]FDG and [11C](R)PK11195 can target inflammation (synovitis) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and may therefore be useful in AS. Another interesting tracer for AS is [18F]Fluoride, which targets bone formation. In a pilot setting, the potential of PET-CT in imaging AS activity was tested using different tracers, with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and conventional radiographs as reference.

Methods

In a stepwise approach different PET tracers were investigated. First, whole body [18F]FDG and [11C](R)PK11195 PET-CT scans were obtained of ten AS patients fulfilling the modified New York criteria. According to the BASDAI five of these patients had low and five had high disease activity. Secondly, an extra PET-CT scan using [18F]Fluoride was made of two additional AS patients with high disease activity. MRI scans of the total spine and sacroiliac joints were performed, and conventional radiographs of the total spine and sacroiliac joints were available for all patients. Scans and radiographs were visually scored by two observers blinded for clinical data.

Results

No increased [18F]FDG and [11C](R)PK11195 uptake was noticed on PET-CT scans of the first 10 patients. In contrast, MRI demonstrated a total of five bone edema lesions in three out of 10 patients. In the two additional AS patients scanned with [18F]Fluoride PET-CT, [18F]Fluoride depicted 17 regions with increased uptake in both vertebral column and sacroiliac joints. In contrast, [18F]FDG depicted only three lesions, with an uptake of five times lower compared to [18F]Fluoride, and again no [11C](R)PK11195 positive lesions were found. In these two patients, MRI detected nine lesions and six out of nine matched with the anatomical position of [18F]Fluoride uptake. Conventional radiographs showed structural bony changes in 11 out of 17 [18F]Fluoride PET positive lesions.

Conclusions

Our PET-CT data suggest that AS activity is reflected by bone activity (formation) rather than inflammation. The results also show the potential value of PET-CT for imaging AS activity using the bone tracer [18F]Fluoride. In contrast to active RA, inflammation tracers [18F]FDG and [11C](R)PK11195 appeared to be less useful for AS imaging.

Background

[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is a valuable tool for monitoring response to therapy in oncology. In longitudinal studies, however, patients are not scanned in exactly the same position. Rigid and non-rigid image registration can be applied in order to reuse baseline volumes of interest (VOI) on consecutive studies of the same patient. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of various image registration strategies on standardized uptake value (SUV) and metabolic volume test-retest variability (TRT).

Methods

Test-retest whole-body [18F]FDG PET/CT scans were collected retrospectively for 11 subjects with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies (colorectal carcinoma). Rigid and non-rigid image registration techniques with various degrees of locality were applied to PET, CT, and non-attenuation corrected PET (NAC) data. VOI were drawn independently on both test and retest scans. VOI drawn on test scans were projected onto retest scans and the overlap between projected VOI and manually drawn retest VOI was quantified using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). In addition, absolute (unsigned) differences in TRT of SUVmax, SUVmean, metabolic volume and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were calculated in on one hand the test VOI and on the other hand the retest VOI and projected VOI. Reference values were obtained by delineating VOIs on both scans separately.

Results

Non-rigid PET registration showed the best performance (median DSC: 0.82, other methods: 0.71-0.81). Compared with the reference, none of the registration types showed significant absolute differences in TRT of SUVmax, SUVmean and TLG (p > 0.05). Only for absolute TRT of metabolic volume, significant lower values (p < 0.05) were observed for all registration strategies when compared to delineating VOIs separately, except for non-rigid PET registrations (p = 0.1). Non-rigid PET registration provided good volume TRT (7.7%) that was smaller than the reference (16%).

Conclusion

In particular, non-rigid PET image registration showed good performance similar to delineating VOI on both scans separately, and with smaller TRT in metabolic volume estimates.

[11C](R)-rolipram provides a measure of the density of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) in brain, an enzyme that metabolizes cAMP. The aims of this study were to perform kinetic modeling of [11C](R)-rolipram in healthy humans using an arterial input function and to replace this arterial input in humans with an image-derived input function.

Methods

Twelve humans had two injections of [11C](R)-rolipram. An image-derived input function was obtained from the carotid arteries and four blood samples. The samples were used for partial volume correction and for estimating the parent concentration using HPLC analysis.

Results

An unconstrained two-compartment model and Logan analysis measured distribution volume VT, with good identifiability but with moderately high retest variability (15%). Similar results were obtained using the image input (ratio image/arterial VT = 1.00 ± 0.06).

Conclusions

Binding of [11C](R)-rolipram to PDE4 can be quantified in human brain using kinetic modeling and an arterial input function. Image input function from carotid arteries provides an equally accurate and reproducible method to quantify PDE4.

Background

P-glycoprotein [Pgp] dysfunction may be involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, and in drug resistant epilepsy. Positron emission tomography using the Pgp substrate tracer (R)-[11C]verapamil enables in vivo quantification of Pgp function at the human blood-brain barrier. Knowledge of test-retest variability is important for assessing changes over time or after treatment with disease-modifying drugs. The purpose of this study was to assess reproducibility of several tracer kinetic models used for analysis of (R)-[11C]verapamil data.

Methods

Dynamic (R)-[11C]verapamil scans with arterial sampling were performed twice on the same day in 13 healthy controls. Data were reconstructed using both filtered back projection [FBP] and partial volume corrected ordered subset expectation maximization [PVC OSEM]. All data were analysed using single-tissue and two-tissue compartment models. Global and regional test-retest variability was determined for various outcome measures.

Results

Analysis using the Akaike information criterion showed that a constrained two-tissue compartment model provided the best fits to the data. Global test-retest variability of the volume of distribution was comparable for single-tissue (6%) and constrained two-tissue (9%) compartment models. Using a single-tissue compartment model covering the first 10 min of data yielded acceptable global test-retest variability (9%) for the outcome measure K1. Test-retest variability of binding potential derived from the constrained two-tissue compartment model was less robust, but still acceptable (22%). Test-retest variability was comparable for PVC OSEM and FBP reconstructed data.

Conclusion

The model of choice for analysing (R)-[11C]verapamil data is a constrained two-tissue compartment model.

Background

Metabolic tumor volume assessment using positron-emission tomography [PET] may be of interest for both target volume definition in radiotherapy and monitoring response to therapy. It has been reported, however, that metabolic volumes derived from images of metabolic rate of glucose (generated using Patlak analysis) are smaller than those derived from standardized uptake value [SUV] images. The purpose of this study was to systematically compare metabolic tumor volume assessments derived from SUV and Patlak images using a variety of (semi-)automatic tumor delineation methods in order to identify methods that can be used reliably on (whole body) SUV images.

Methods

Dynamic [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose [FDG] PET data from 10 lung and 8 gastrointestinal cancer patients were analyzed retrospectively. Metabolic tumor volumes were derived from both Patlak and SUV images using five different types of tumor delineation methods, based on various thresholds or on a gradient.

Results

In general, most tumor delineation methods provided more outliers when metabolic volumes were derived from SUV images rather than Patlak images. Only gradient-based methods showed more outliers for Patlak-based tumor delineation. Median measured metabolic volumes derived from SUV images were larger than those derived from Patlak images (up to 59% difference) when using a fixed percentage threshold method. Tumor volumes agreed reasonably well (< 26% difference) when applying methods that take local signal-to-background ratio [SBR] into account.

Conclusion

Large differences may exist in metabolic volumes derived from static and dynamic FDG image data. These differences depend strongly on the delineation method used. Delineation methods that correct for local SBR provide the most consistent results between SUV and Patlak images.

Purpose

Delineation of tumour boundaries is important for quantification of [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) studies and for definition of biological target volumes in radiotherapy. Several (semi-)automatic tumour delineation methods have been proposed, but these methods differ substantially in estimating tumour volume and their performance may be affected by imaging parameters. The main purpose of this study was to explore the performance dependence of various (semi-)automatic tumour delineation methods on different imaging parameters, i.e. reconstruction parameters, noise levels and tumour characteristics, and thereby the need for standardization or inter-institute calibration.

Methods

Six different types of delineation methods were evaluated by assessing accuracy and precision in estimating tumour volume from simulations and phantom experiments. The evaluated conditions were various tumour sizes, iterative reconstruction algorithm settings and image filtering, tumour to background ratios (TBR), noise levels and region growing initializations.

Results

The accuracy of all automatic delineation methods was influenced when imaging parameters were varied. The performance of all tumour delineation methods depends on variation of TBR, image resolution and image noise level, and to a lesser extent on number of iterations during image reconstruction or the initialization method of the region generation. For sphere sizes larger than 20 mm diameter a contrast-oriented method provided the most accurate results, on average, over all simulated conditions. For threshold-based methods the accuracy of tumour delineation improved after image denoising/filtering.

Conclusion

The accuracy and precision of all studied tumour delineation methods was affected by physiological and imaging parameters. The latter illustrates the need for optimizing imaging parameters and/or for careful calibration and optimization of delineation methods.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00259-011-1899-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background

The aim of the present study was to investigate microglia activation over time following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to relate these findings to glutamate release.

Procedures

Sequential dynamic (R)-[11C]PK11195 PET scans were performed in rats 24 hours before (baseline), and one and ten days after TBI using controlled cortical impact, or a sham procedure. Extracellular fluid (ECF) glutamate concentrations were measured using cerebral microdialysis. Brains were processed for histopathology and (immuno)-histochemistry.

Results

Ten days after TBI, (R)-[11C]PK11195 binding was significantly increased in TBI rats compared with both baseline values and sham controls (p < 0.05). ECF glutamate values were increased immediately after TBI (27.6 ± 14.0 μmol·L-1) as compared with the sham procedure (6.4 ± 3.6 μmol·L-1). Significant differences were found between TBI and sham for ED-1, OX-6, GFAP, Perl's, and Fluoro-Jade B.

Conclusions

Increased cerebral uptake of (R)-[11C]PK11195 ten days after TBI points to prolonged and ongoing activation of microglia. This activation followed a significant acute posttraumatic increase in ECF glutamate levels.

Purpose

Standardized uptake values (SUV) are commonly used for quantification of whole-body [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) studies. Changes in SUV following therapy, however, only provide a proper measure of response in case of homogeneous FDG uptake in the tumour. The purpose of this study was therefore to implement and characterize a method that enables quantification of heterogeneity in tumour FDG uptake.

Methods

Cumulative SUV-volume histograms (CSH), describing % of total tumour volume above % threshold of maximum SUV (SUVmax), were calculated. The area under a CSH curve (AUC) is a quantitative index of tumour uptake heterogeneity, with lower AUC corresponding to higher degrees of heterogeneity. Simulations of homogeneous and heterogeneous responses were performed to assess the value of AUC-CSH for measuring uptake and/or response heterogeneity. In addition, partial volume correction and image denoising was applied prior to calculating AUC-CSH. Finally, the method was applied to a number of human FDG scans.

Results

Partial volume correction and noise reduction improved CSH curves. Both simulations and clinical examples showed that AUC-CSH values corresponded with level of tumour heterogeneity and/or heterogeneity in response. In contrast, this correspondence was not seen with SUVmax alone. The results indicate that the main advantage of AUC-CSH above other measures, such as 1/COV (coefficient of variation), is the possibility to measure or normalize AUC-CSH in different ways.

Conclusion

AUC-CSH might be used as a quantitative index of heterogeneity in tracer uptake. In response monitoring studies it can be used to address heterogeneity in response.

Background

The aim of this study was to test seven previously published image-input methods in state-of-the-art high resolution PET brain images. Images were obtained with a High Resolution Research Tomograph plus a resolution-recovery reconstruction algorithm using two different radioligands with different radiometabolite fractions. Three of the methods required arterial blood samples to scale the image-input, and four were blood-free methods.

Methods

All seven methods were tested on twelve scans with [11C](R)-rolipram, which has a low radiometabolite fraction, and on nineteen scans with [11C]PBR28 (high radiometabolite fraction). Logan VT values for both blood and image inputs were calculated using the metabolite-corrected input functions. The agreement of image-derived Logan VT values with the reference blood-derived Logan VT values was quantified using a scoring system. Using the image input methods that gave the most accurate results with Logan analysis, we also performed kinetic modelling with a two-tissue compartment model.

Results

For both radioligands the highest scores were obtained with two blood-based methods, while the blood-free methods generally performed poorly. All methods gave higher scores with [11C](R)-rolipram, which has a lower metabolite fraction. Compartment modeling gave less reliable results, especially for the estimation of individual rate constants.

Conclusion

Our study shows that: 1) Image input methods that are validated for a specific tracer and a specific machine may not perform equally well in a different setting; 2) despite the use of high resolution PET images, blood samples are still necessary to obtain a reliable image input function; 3) the accuracy of image input may also vary between radioligands depending on the magnitude of the radiometabolite fraction: the higher the metabolite fraction of a given tracer (e.g., [11C]PBR28), the more difficult it is to obtain a reliable image-derived input function; and 4) in association with image inputs, graphical analyses should be preferred over compartmental modelling.

The aim of this study was to validate in vivo the accuracy of a reconstruction-based partial volume correction (PVC), which takes into account the point spread function of the imaging system. The NEMA NU2 Image Quality phantom and five healthy volunteers (using [11C]flumazenil) were scanned on both HR+ and high-resolution research tomograph (HRRT) scanners. HR+ data were reconstructed using normalization and attenuation-weighted ordered subsets expectation maximization (NAW-OSEM) and a PVC algorithm (PVC-NAW-OSEM). HRRT data were reconstructed using 3D ordinary Poisson OSEM (OP-OSEM) and a PVC algorithm (PVC-OP-OSEM). For clinical studies, parametric volume of distribution (VT) images were generated. For phantom data, good recovery was found for both OP-OSEM (0.84 to 0.97) and PVC-OP-OSEM (0.91 to 0.98) HRRT reconstructions. In addition, for the HR+, good recovery was found for PVC-NAW-OSEM (0.84 to 0.94), corresponding well with OP-OSEM. Finally, for clinical data, good correspondence was found between PVC-NAW-OSEM and OP-OSEM-derived VT values (slope: 1.02±0.08). This study showed that HR+ image resolution using PVC-NAW-OSEM was comparable to that of the HRRT scanner. As the HRRT has a higher intrinsic resolution, this agreement validates reconstruction-based PVC as a means of improving the spatial resolution of the HR+ scanner and thereby improving the quantitative accuracy of positron emission tomography.

Purpose

Imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) using 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) plays an increasingly important role for response assessment in oncology. Several methods for quantifying FDG PET results exist. The goal of this study was to analyse and compare various semi-quantitative measures for response assessment with full kinetic analysis, specifically in assessment of novel therapies.

Methods

Baseline and response dynamic FDG studies from two different longitudinal studies (study A: seven subjects with lung cancer and study B: six subjects with gastrointestinal cancer) with targeted therapies were reviewed. Quantification of tumour uptake included full kinetic methods, i.e. nonlinear regression (NLR) and Patlak analyses, and simplified measures such as the simplified kinetic method (SKM) and standardized uptake value (SUV). An image-derived input function was used for NLR and Patlak analysis.

Results

There were 18 and 9 lesions defined for two response monitoring studies (A and B). In all cases there was excellent correlation between Patlak- and NLR-derived response (R2 > 0.96). Percentage changes seen with SUV were significantly different from those seen with Patlak for both studies (p < 0.05). After correcting SUV for plasma glucose, SUV and Patlak responses became similar for study A, but large differences remained for study B. Further analysis revealed that differences in responses amongst methods in study B were primarily due to changes in the arterial input functions.

Conclusion

Use of simplified methods for assessment of drug efficacy or treatment response may provide different results than those seen with full kinetic analysis.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with image acquisition at multiple inversion times is a noninvasive ASL technique able to compensate for spatial heterogeneities in transit times caused by collateral blood flow in patients with severe stenosis of the cerebropetal blood vessels. Our aim was to compare ASL-MRI and H215O positron emission tomography (PET), the gold standard for cerebral blood flow (CBF) assessment, in patients with a symptomatic internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion. Fourteen patients (63±14 years) with a symptomatic ICA occlusion underwent both ASL-MRI and H215O PET. The ASL-MRI was performed using a pulsed STAR labeling technique at multiple inversion times within 7 days of the PET. The CBF was measured in the gray-matter of the anterior, middle and posterior cerebral artery, and white-matter. Both PET and ASL-MRI showed a significantly decreased CBF in the gray-matter of the middle cerebral artery in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the ICA occlusion. The average gray-matter CBF measured with ASL-MRI (71.8±4.3 mL/min/100 g) was higher (P<0.01) than measured with H215O PET (43.1±1.0 mL/min/100 g). In conclusion, ASL-MRI at multiple TIs is capable of depicting areas of regions with low CBF in patients with an occlusion of the ICA, although a systematic overestimation of CBF relative to H215O PET was noted.

Purpose

We assessed test–retest variability of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2), and oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) measurements derived from dynamic 15O positron emission tomography (PET) scans.

Procedures

In seven healthy volunteers, complete test–retest 15O PET studies were obtained; test–retest variability and left-to-right ratios of CBF, CBV, OEF, and CMRO2 in arterial flow territories were calculated.

Results

Whole-brain test–retest coefficients of variation for CBF, CBV, CMRO2, and OEF were 8.8%, 13.8%, 5.3%, and 9.3%, respectively. Test–retest variability of CBV left-to-right ratios was <7.4% across all territories. Corresponding values for CBF, CMRO2, and OEF were better, i.e., <4.5%, <4.0%, and <1.4%, respectively.

Conclusions

The test–retest variability of CMRO2 measurements derived from dynamic 15O PET scans is comparable to within-session test–retest variability derived from steady-state 15O PET scans. Excellent regional test–retest variability was observed for CBF, CMRO2, and OEF. Variability of absolute CBF and OEF measurements is probably affected by physiological day-to-day variability of CBF.

Purpose

To quantify the effects of motion affected image-derived input functions (IDIF) on the outcome of tracer kinetic analyses.

Procedures

Two simulation studies, one based on high and the other on low cortical uptake, were performed. Different degrees of rotational and axial translational motion were added to the final frames of simulated dynamic positron emission tomography scans. Extracted IDIFs from motion affected simulated scans were compared to original IDIFs and to outcome of tracer kinetic analysis (volume of distribution, VT).

Results

Differences in IDIF values of up to 239% were found for the last frames. Patient motion of more than 6° or 5 mm resulted in at least 10% higher or lower VT values for the high cortical tracer.

Conclusion

The degrees of motion studied are commonly observed in clinical studies and hamper the extraction of accurate IDIFs. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that patient motion is minimal and corrected for.

Purpose

Quantitative accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) is affected by partial volume effects resulting in increased underestimation of the standardized uptake value (SUV) with decreasing tumour volume. The purpose of the present study was to assess accuracy and precision of different partial volume correction (PVC) methods.

Methods

Three methods for PVC were evaluated: (1) inclusion of the point spread function (PSF) within the reconstruction, (2) iterative deconvolution of PET images and (3) calculation of spill-in and spill-out factors based on tumour masks. Simulations were based on a mathematical phantom with tumours of different sizes and shapes. Phantom experiments were performed in 2-D mode using the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU2 image quality phantom containing six differently sized spheres. Clinical studies (2-D mode) included a test-retest study consisting of 10 patients with stage IIIB and IV non-small cell lung cancer and a response monitoring study consisting of 15 female breast cancer patients. In all studies tumour or sphere volumes of interest (VOI) were generated using VOI based on adaptive relative thresholds.

Results

Simulations and experiments provided similar results. All methods were able to accurately recover true SUV within 10% for spheres equal to and larger than 1 ml. Reconstruction-based recovery, however, provided up to twofold better precision than image-based methods. Clinical studies showed that PVC increased SUV by 5–80% depending on tumour size. Test-retest variability slightly worsened from 9.8 ± 6.5 without to 10.8 ± 7.9% with PVC. Finally, PVC resulted in slightly smaller SUV responses, i.e. from −30.5% without to −26.3% with PVC after the first cycle of treatment (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

PVC improves accuracy of SUV without decreasing (clinical) test-retest variability significantly and it has a small, but significant effect on observed tumour responses. Reconstruction-based PVC outperforms image-based methods, but requires dedicated reconstruction software. Image-based methods are good alternatives because of their ease of implementation and their similar performance in clinical studies.

The aim of this guideline is to provide a minimum standard for the acquisition and interpretation of PET and PET/CT scans with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). This guideline will therefore address general information about [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) and is provided to help the physician and physicist to assist to carrying out, interpret, and document quantitative FDG PET/CT examinations, but will concentrate on the optimisation of diagnostic quality and quantitative information.

Purpose

Patient motion during PET acquisition may affect measured time-activity curves, thereby reducing accuracy of tracer kinetic analyses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate different off-line frame-by-frame methods to correct patient motion, which is of particular interest when no optical motion tracking system is available or when older data sets have to be reanalysed.

Methods

Four different motion correction methods were evaluated. In the first method attenuation-corrected frames were realigned with the summed image of the first 3 min. The second method was identical, except that non-attenuation-corrected images were used. In the third and fourth methods non-attenuation-corrected images were realigned with standard and cupped transmission images, respectively. Two simulation studies were performed, based on [11C]flumazenil and (R)-[11C]PK11195 data sets, respectively. For both simulation studies different types (rotational, translational) and degrees of motion were added. Simulated PET scans were corrected for motion using all correction methods. The optimal method derived from these simulation studies was used to evaluate two (one with and one without visible movement) clinical data sets of [11C]flumazenil, (R)-[11C]PK11195 and [11C]PIB. For these clinical data sets, the volume of distribution (VT) was derived using Logan analysis and values were compared before and after motion correction.

Results

For both [11C]flumazenil and (R)-[11C]PK11195 simulation studies, optimal results were obtained when realignment was based on non-attenuation-corrected images. For the clinical data sets motion disappeared visually after motion correction. Regional differences of up to 433% in VT before and after motion correction were found for scans with visible movement. On the other hand, when no visual motion was present in the original data set, overall differences in VT before and after motion correction were <1.5 ± 1.3%.

Conclusion

Frame-by-frame motion correction using non-attenuation-corrected images improves the accuracy of tracer kinetic analysis compared to non-motion-corrected data.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00259-009-1193-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess the test-retest variability of [11C]PIB studies in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and healthy controls using several tracer kinetic models and to assess the suitability of the cerebellum as reference tissue.

Methods

[11C]PIB studies with arterial sampling were performed in eight AD patients and eight healthy controls. Retest scans were performed in six controls and six AD patients. Data were analysed using plasma input and reference tissue models, together with simple ratios.

Results

Test-retest variability was best (∼3%) for SRTM2, a parametric method based on the simplified reference tissue model. Highest values (∼10%) were found for plasma input models. Cerebellar VT values did not differ significantly between AD and controls.

Conclusion

Parametric SRTM2 with the cerebellum as reference tissue is the method of choice for quantitative analysis of [11C]PIB PET studies.

Purpose

Different pharmacokinetic methods for [18F]FDDNP studies were evaluated using both simulations and clinical data.

Procedures

Methods included two-tissue reversible plasma (2T4k), simplified reference tissue input (SRTM), and a modified 2T4k models. The latter included an additional compartment for metabolites (2T1M). For plasma input models, binding potential, BPND, was obtained both directly (=k3/k4) and indirectly (using volume of distribution ratios).

Results

For clinical data, 2T1M was preferred over 2T4k according to Akaike criterion. Indirect BPND using 2T1M correlated better with SRTM then direct BPND. Fairly constant volume of distribution of metabolites was found across brain and across subjects, which was strongly related to bias in BPND obtained from SRTM as seen in simulations. Furthermore, in simulations, SRTM showed constant bias with best precision if metabolites entered brain.

Conclusions

SRTM is the method of choice for quantitative analysis of [18F]FDDNP even if it is unclear whether labeled metabolites enter the brain.