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Ziegler S, Jakoby BW, Braun H, et al. NEMA image quality phantom measurements and attenuation correction in integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging. EJNMMI Phys. 2015;2(1):18doi: 10.1186/s40658-015-0122-3.
Ziegler, S., Jakoby, B. W., Braun, H., Paulus, D. H., & Quick, H. H. (2015). NEMA image quality phantom measurements and attenuation correction in integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging. EJNMMI physics, 2(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40658-015-0122-3
Ziegler, Susanne, et al. "NEMA image quality phantom measurements and attenuation correction in integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging." EJNMMI physics vol. 2,1 (2015): 18. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40658-015-0122-3
Ziegler S, Jakoby BW, Braun H, Paulus DH, Quick HH. NEMA image quality phantom measurements and attenuation correction in integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging. EJNMMI Phys. 2015 Dec;2(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s40658-015-0122-3. Epub 2015 Aug 20. PMID: 26501819; PMCID: PMC4542864.
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EJNMMI Phys. 2015 Dec;2(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s40658-015-0122-3. Epub 2015 Aug 20.

NEMA image quality phantom measurements and attenuation correction in integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging.

EJNMMI physics

Susanne Ziegler, Bjoern W Jakoby, Harald Braun, Daniel H Paulus, Harald H Quick

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Henkestraße 91, 91052, Erlangen, Germany. [email protected].
  2. Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany.
  3. University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK.
  4. Institute of Medical Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Henkestraße 91, 91052, Erlangen, Germany.
  5. Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
  6. High Field and Hybrid MR Imaging, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.

PMID: 26501819 PMCID: PMC4542864 DOI: 10.1186/s40658-015-0122-3

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging the evaluation of PET performance characteristics according to the NEMA standard NU 2-2007 is challenging because of incomplete MR-based attenuation correction (AC) for phantom imaging. In this study, a strategy for CT-based AC of the NEMA image quality (IQ) phantom is assessed. The method is systematically evaluated in NEMA IQ phantom measurements on an integrated PET/MR system.

METHODS: NEMA IQ measurements were performed on the integrated 3.0 Tesla PET/MR hybrid system (Biograph mMR, Siemens Healthcare). AC of the NEMA IQ phantom was realized by an MR-based and by a CT-based method. The suggested CT-based AC uses a template μ-map of the NEMA IQ phantom and a phantom holder for exact repositioning of the phantom on the systems patient table. The PET image quality parameters contrast recovery, background variability, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were determined and compared for both phantom AC methods. Reconstruction parameters of an iterative 3D OP-OSEM reconstruction were optimized for highest lesion SNR in NEMA IQ phantom imaging.

RESULTS: Using a CT-based NEMA IQ phantom μ-map on the PET/MR system is straightforward and allowed performing accurate NEMA IQ measurements on the hybrid system. MR-based AC was determined to be insufficient for PET quantification in the tested NEMA IQ phantom because only photon attenuation caused by the MR-visible phantom filling but not the phantom housing is considered. Using the suggested CT-based AC, the highest SNR in this phantom experiment for small lesions (<= 13 mm) was obtained with 3 iterations, 21 subsets and 4 mm Gaussian filtering.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests CT-based AC for the NEMA IQ phantom when performing PET NEMA IQ measurements on an integrated PET/MR hybrid system. The superiority of CT-based AC for this phantom is demonstrated by comparison to measurements using MR-based AC. Furthermore, optimized PET image reconstruction parameters are provided for the highest lesion SNR in NEMA IQ phantom measurements.

Keywords: CT-based attenuation correction; Integrated PET/MR hybrid imaging; MR-based attenuation correction; NEMA image quality measurements; PET/MR phantom measurements

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