Impact of New Scatter Correction Strategies on High-Resolution Research Tomograph Brain PET Studies

• Published in: Molecular imaging and biology Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 627 - 635
• Main Authors: Mansor, Syahir, Boellaard, Ronald, Huisman, Marc C., van Berckel, Bart N. M., Schuit, Robert C., Windhorst, Albert D., Lammertsma, Adriaan A., van Velden, Floris H. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Brain - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Motion; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Radiology; Research Article; Scattering, Radiation; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; Positron emission tomography (PET); ACF-margin; Scatter correction; Patient motion; Scatter scaling factor; Single scatter simulation; High-resolution research tomograph (HRRT)
• ISSN: 1536-1632; 1860-2002; 1860-2002
• DOI: 10.1007/s11307-015-0921-x

Purpose The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of different scatter correction strategies on quantification of high-resolution research tomograph (HRRT) data for three tracers covering a wide range in kinetic profiles. Procedures Healthy subjects received dynamic HRRT scans using either ( R )-[ 11 C]verapamil ( n  = 5), [ 11 C]raclopride ( n  = 5) or [ 11 C]flumazenil ( n  = 5). To reduce the effects of patient motion on scatter scaling factors, a margin in the attenuation correction factor (ACF) sinogram was applied prior to 2D or 3D single scatter simulation (SSS). Results Some ( R )-[ 11 C]verapamil studies showed prominent artefacts that disappeared with an ACF-margin of 10 mm or more. Use of 3D SSS for ( R )-[ 11 C]verapamil showed a statistically significant increase in volume of distribution compared with 2D SSS ( p  < 0.05), but not for [ 11 C]raclopride and [ 11 C]flumazenil studies ( p  > 0.05). Conclusions When there is a patient motion-induced mismatch between transmission and emission scans, applying an ACF-margin resulted in more reliable scatter scaling factors but did not change (and/or deteriorate) quantification.