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Derivation of attenuation map for attenuation correction of PET data in the presence of nanoparticulate contrast agents using spectral CT imaging

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Abstract

Objective

Uptake value in quantitative PET imaging is biased due to the presence of CT contrast agents when using CT-based attenuation correction. Our aim was to examine spectral CT imaging to suppress inaccuracy of 511 keV attenuation map in the presence of multiple nanoparticulate contrast agents.

Methods

Using a simulation study we examined an image-based K-edge ratio method, in which two images acquired from energy windows located above and below the K-edge energy are divided by one another, to identify the exact location of all contrast agents. Multiple computerized phantom studies were conducted using a variety of NP contrast agents with different concentrations. The performance of the proposed methodology was compared to conventional single-kVp and dual-kVp methods using wide range of contrast agents with varying concentrations.

Results

The results demonstrate that both single-kVp and dual-kVp energy mapping approaches produce inaccurate attenuation maps at 511 keV in the presence of multiple simultaneous contrast agents. In contrast, the proposed method is capable of handling multiple simultaneous contrast agents, thus allowing suppression of 511 keV attenuation map inaccuracy.

Conclusion

Attenuation map produced by spectral CT clearly outperforms conventional single-kVp and dual-kVp approaches in the generation of accurate attenuation maps in the presence of multiple contrast agents.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences under Grant 21342 and the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant SNSF 31003A-149957.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hossein Ghadiri & Mohammad Reza Ay

  2. Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hossein Ghadiri & Mohammad Reza Ay

  3. Department of Medical Physics, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Bagher Shiran

  4. CIPCE, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh

  5. Department of Radiology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA

    Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh

  6. Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Arman Rahmim

  7. Division of Nuclear Medicine, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland

    Habib Zaidi

  8. Geneva Neuroscience Center, Geneva University, Geneva, Switzerland

    Habib Zaidi

  9. Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Habib Zaidi

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  1. Hossein Ghadiri
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Correspondence to Mohammad Reza Ay.

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Ghadiri, H., Shiran, M.B., Soltanian-Zadeh, H. et al. Derivation of attenuation map for attenuation correction of PET data in the presence of nanoparticulate contrast agents using spectral CT imaging. Ann Nucl Med 28, 559–570 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-014-0846-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-014-0846-5

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