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Modified signal-to-noise ratio in the liver using the background-to-lung activity ratio to assess image quality of whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography

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Abstract

The signal-to-noise ratio in the liver (SNR liver) is commonly used to assess the quality of positron emission tomography (PET) images; however, it is weakly correlated with visual assessments. Conversely, the noise equivalent count (NEC) density showed a strong correlation with visual assessment but did not consider the effects of image reconstruction conditions. Therefore, we propose a new indicator, the modified SNR liver, and plan to verify its usefulness by comparing it with conventional indicators. We retrospectively analyzed 103 patients who underwent whole-body PET/computed tomography (CT). Approximately 60 min after the intravenous injection of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the participants were scanned for 2 min/bed. The SNR liver and NEC density were calculated according to the Japanese guidelines for oncology FDG-PET/CT. The modified SNR live was calculated by multiplying the background-to-lung activity ratio by the SNR liver. Patients were classified into groups based on body mass index (BMI) and visual scores. Subsequently, the relationships between these physical indicators, BMI, and visual scores were evaluated. Although the relationship between the modified SNR liver and BMI was inferior to that of NEC density and BMI, the modified SNR liver distinguished the BMI groups more clearly than the conventional SNR liver. Additionally, the modified SNR liver distinguished low visual scores from high scores more accurately than the conventional SNR liver and NEC density. Whether the modified SNR liver is more suitable than the NEC density remains equivocal; however, the modified SNR liver may be superior to the conventional SNR liver for image-quality assessment.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the cooperation of technologists Akihiro Horita and Shota Tachiura at the Public Central Hospital of Matto Ishikawa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Radiology, Public Central Hospital of Matto Ishikawa, 3-8 Kuramitsu, Hakusan, Ishikawa, 924-8588, Japan

    Shozo Yamashita & Haruki Yamamoto

  2. Department of Radiation Science, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 66-1 Hon-Cho, Hirosaki-Shi, Aomori, 036-8564, Japan

    Koichi Okuda

  3. Radiation Safety and Quality Assurance Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Tetsu Nakaichi

  4. Division of Thyroid, Public Central Hospital of Matto Ishikawa, 3-8 Kuramitsu, Hakusan, Ishikawa, 924-8588, Japan

    Tatsuya Yoneyama

  5. PET Imaging Center, Public Central Hospital of Matto Ishikawa, 3-8 Kuramitsu, Hakusan, Ishikawa, 924-8588, Japan

    Kunihiko Yokoyama

Authors
  1. Shozo Yamashita
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  2. Koichi Okuda
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  3. Tetsu Nakaichi
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  4. Haruki Yamamoto
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  5. Tatsuya Yoneyama
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  6. Kunihiko Yokoyama
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Contributions

SY designed this study. SY and HY performed material preparation and data collection. SY, KO, TN, and TY performed data analysis. All authors contributed to the data interpretation. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SY, and all the authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shozo Yamashita.

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The authors have no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests to disclose.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Public Central Hospital of Matto Ishikawa.

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All participants provided written informed consent.

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Yamashita, S., Okuda, K., Nakaichi, T. et al. Modified signal-to-noise ratio in the liver using the background-to-lung activity ratio to assess image quality of whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Radiol Phys Technol 16, 94–101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-023-00700-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-023-00700-x

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