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Analysis of partial volume correction on quantification and regional heterogeneity in cardiac PET

  • Original Article
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Journal of Nuclear Cardiology Aims and scope

Abstract

Background

The partial volume correction (PVC) of cardiac PET datasets using anatomical side information during reconstruction is appealing but not straightforward. Other techniques, which do not make use of additional anatomical information, could be equally effective in improving the reconstructed myocardial activity.

Methods

Resolution modeling in combination with different noise suppressing priors was evaluated as a means to perform PVC. Anatomical priors based on a high-resolution CT are compared to non-anatomical, edge-preserving priors (relative difference and total variation prior). The study is conducted on ex vivo datasets from ovine hearts. A simulation study additionally clarifies the relationship between prior effectiveness and myocardial wall thickness.

Results

Simple resolution modeling during data reconstruction resulted in over- and underestimation of activity, which hampers the absolute left ventricular quantification when compared to the ground truth. Both the edge-preserving and the anatomy-based PVC techniques improve the absolute quantification, with comparable results (Student t-test, P = .17). The relative tracer distribution was preserved with any reconstruction technique (repeated ANOVA, P = .98).

Conclusions

The use of edge-preserving priors emerged as optimal choice for quantification of tracer uptake in the left ventricular wall of the available datasets. Anatomical priors visually outperformed edge-preserving priors when the thinnest structures were of interest.

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Abbreviations

PET:

Positron emission tomography

(HR) CT:

(High resolution) computed tomography

PVE:

Partial volume effect

PVC:

Partial volume correction

OSEM:

Ordered subsets expectation maximisation (reconstruction algorithm)

RR:

Resolution recovery

MAP:

Maximum-a-posteriori (reconstruction algorithm)

TV:

Total variation (prior)

RD:

Relative difference (prior)

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Acknowledgements

AT is a PhD fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). OG (1831812N) and JUV are senior clinical investigators of the Research Foundation – Flanders. KV is a post-doctoral researcher of the Research Foundation – Flanders. The authors wish to thank Charles Watson, Judd Jones et al for their help with the Siemens data processing, and Filip Rega for the development of the animal model used in this work.

Author’s Contributions

AT was responsible for the study design, the simulation setup, the reconstructions and the data collection and analysis, and drafted the manuscript. JN and KV assisted with the study design, the analysis of data and the careful revision of the manuscript. JUV, PC, JD and OG participated in the study design and critically revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Imaging and Pathology, Nuclear Medicine and Molecular imaging, Medical Imaging Research Center (MIRC), KU Leuven - University of Leuven, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    A. Turco PhD, J. Nuyts PhD, O. Gheysens MD, PhD & K. Vunckx PhD

  2. Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Cardiology, Medical Imaging Research Center (MIRC), KU Leuven - University of Leuven, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    J. Duchenne MSc, J. U. Voigt MD, PhD & P. Claus PhD

  3. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    O. Gheysens MD, PhD

  4. Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospitals Leuven, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    J. U. Voigt MD, PhD

Authors
  1. A. Turco PhD
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  2. J. Nuyts PhD
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  3. J. Duchenne MSc
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  4. O. Gheysens MD, PhD
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  5. J. U. Voigt MD, PhD
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  6. P. Claus PhD
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  7. K. Vunckx PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Turco PhD.

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Turco, A., Nuyts, J., Duchenne, J. et al. Analysis of partial volume correction on quantification and regional heterogeneity in cardiac PET. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 27, 62–70 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-016-0773-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-016-0773-z

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