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Pre-acquired CT-based attenuation correction with automated headrest removal for a brain-dedicated PET system

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Abstract

Attenuation correction (AC) is essential for quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) images. Attenuation coefficient maps (μ-maps) are usually generated from computed tomography (CT) images when PET-CT combined systems are used. If CT has been performed prior to PET imaging, pre-acquired CT can be used for brain PET AC, because the human head is almost rigid. This pre-acquired CT-based AC approach is suitable for stand-alone brain-dedicated PET, such as VRAIN (ATOX Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). However, the headrest of PET is different from the headrest in pre-acquired CT images, which may degrade the PET image quality. In this study, we prepared three different types of μ-maps: (1) based on the pre-acquired CT, where namely the headrest is different from the PET system (μ-map-diffHr); (2) manually removing the headrest from the pre-acquired CT (μ-map-noHr); and (3) artificially replacing the headrest region with the headrest of the PET system (μ-map-sameHr). Phantom images by VRAIN using each μ-map were investigated for uniformity, noise, and quantitative accuracy. Consequently, only the uniformity of the images using μ-map-diffHr was out of the acceptance criteria. We then proposed an automated method for removing the headrest from pre-acquired CT images. In comparisons of standardized uptake values in nine major brain regions from the 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-PET of 10 healthy volunteers, no significant differences were found between the μ-map-noHr and the μ-map-sameHr. In conclusion, pre-acquired CT-based AC with automated headrest removal is useful for brain-dedicated PET such as VRAIN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Nuclear Medicine Sciences, Institute for Quantum Medical Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan

    Yuma Iwao, Go Akamatsu, Hideaki Tashima, Miwako Takahashi & Taiga Yamaya

Authors
  1. Yuma Iwao
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  2. Go Akamatsu
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  3. Hideaki Tashima
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  4. Miwako Takahashi
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  5. Taiga Yamaya
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yuma Iwao, Go Akamatsu or Taiga Yamaya.

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Conflict of interest

This clinical study was financially supported by ATOX Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan).

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All the procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the institutional review board of our institute and registered in the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCTs032210086).

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Iwao, Y., Akamatsu, G., Tashima, H. et al. Pre-acquired CT-based attenuation correction with automated headrest removal for a brain-dedicated PET system. Radiol Phys Technol 16, 552–559 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-023-00744-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-023-00744-z

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