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Bäumer C, Bäcker CM, Conti M, Fragoso Costa P, Herrmann K, Kazek SL, Jentzen W, Panin V, Siegel S, Teimoorisichani M, Wulff J, Timmermann B. Can a ToF-PET photon attenuation reconstruction test stopping-power estimations in proton therapy? A phantom study. Phys Med Biol 2021; 66. [PMID: 34534971 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac27b5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Objective. The aim of the phantom study was to validate and to improve the computed tomography (CT) images used for the dose computation in proton therapy. It was tested, if the joint reconstruction of activity and attenuation images of time-of-flight PET (ToF-PET) scans could improve the estimation of the proton stopping-power.Approach. The attenuation images, i.e. CT images with 511 keV gamma-rays (γCTs), were jointly reconstructed with activity maps from ToF-PET scans. Theβ+activity was produced with FDG and in a separate experiment with proton-induced radioactivation. The phantoms contained slabs of tissue substitutes. The use of theγCTs for the prediction of the beam stopping in proton therapy was based on a linear relationship between theγ-ray attenuation, the electron density, and the stopping-power of fast protons.Main results. The FDG based experiment showed sufficient linearity to detect a bias of bony tissue in the heuristic look-up table, which maps between x-ray CT images and proton stopping-power.γCTs can be used for dose computation, if the electron density of one type of tissue is provided as a scaling factor. A possible limitation is imposed by the spatial resolution, which is inferior by a factor of 2.5 compared to the one of the x-ray CT.γCTs can also be derived from off-line, ToF-PET scans subsequent to the application of a proton field with a hypofractionated dose level.Significance. γCTs are a viable tool to support the estimation of proton stopping with radiotracer-based ToF-PET data from diagnosis or staging. This could be of higher potential relevance in MRI-guided proton therapy.γCTs could form an alternative approach to make use of in-beam or off-line PET scans of proton-inducedβ+activity with possible clinical limitations due to the low number of coincidence counts.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Bäumer
- West German Proton Therapy Centre Essen, Am Mühlenbach 1, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,West German Cancer Center (WTZ), Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany.,TU Dortmund University, Department of Physics, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, Dortmund, Germany
| | - C M Bäcker
- West German Proton Therapy Centre Essen, Am Mühlenbach 1, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,West German Cancer Center (WTZ), Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,TU Dortmund University, Department of Physics, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, Dortmund, Germany
| | - M Conti
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - P Fragoso Costa
- University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany
| | - K Herrmann
- University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany
| | - S L Kazek
- University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany
| | - W Jentzen
- University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany
| | - V Panin
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - S Siegel
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - M Teimoorisichani
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - J Wulff
- West German Proton Therapy Centre Essen, Am Mühlenbach 1, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,West German Cancer Center (WTZ), Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany
| | - B Timmermann
- West German Proton Therapy Centre Essen, Am Mühlenbach 1, Essen, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,West German Cancer Center (WTZ), Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany.,University Hospital Essen, Department of Particle Therapy, Hufelandstr. 55, Essen, Germany
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Mackewn JE, Stirling J, Jeljeli S, Gould SM, Johnstone RI, Merida I, Pike LC, McGinnity CJ, Beck K, Howes O, Hammers A, Marsden PK. Practical issues and limitations of brain attenuation correction on a simultaneous PET-MR scanner. EJNMMI Phys 2020; 7:24. [PMID: 32372135 PMCID: PMC7200964 DOI: 10.1186/s40658-020-00295-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the advent of clinical PET-MR imaging for routine use in 2011 and the development of several methods to address the problem of attenuation correction, some challenges remain. We have identified and investigated several issues that might affect the reliability and accuracy of current attenuation correction methods when these are implemented for clinical and research studies of the brain. These are (1) the accuracy of converting CT Hounsfield units, obtained from an independently acquired CT scan, to 511 keV linear attenuation coefficients; (2) the effect of padding used in the MR head coil; (3) the presence of close-packed hair; (4) the effect of headphones. For each of these, we have examined the effect on reconstructed PET images and evaluated practical mitigating measures. RESULTS Our major findings were (1) for both Siemens and GE PET-MR systems, CT data from either a Siemens or a GE PET-CT scanner may be used, provided the conversion to 511 keV μ-map is performed by the PET-MR vendor's own method, as implemented on their PET-CT scanner; (2) the effect of the head coil pads is minimal; (3) the effect of dense hair in the field of view is marked (> 10% error in reconstructed PET images); and (4) using headphones and not including them in the attenuation map causes significant errors in reconstructed PET images, but the risk of scanning without them may be acceptable following sound level measurements. CONCLUSIONS It is important that the limitations of attenuation correction in PET-MR are considered when designing research and clinical PET-MR protocols in order to enable accurate quantification of brain PET scans. Whilst the effect of pads is not significant, dense hair, the use of headphones and the use of an independently acquired CT-scan can all lead to non-negligible effects on PET quantification. Although seemingly trivial, these effects add complications to setting up protocols for clinical and research PET-MR studies that do not occur with PET-CT. In the absence of more sophisticated PET-MR brain attenuation correction, the effect of all of the issues above can be minimised if the pragmatic approaches presented in this work are followed.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. E. Mackewn
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - J. Stirling
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - S. Jeljeli
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - S-M. Gould
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - R. I. Johnstone
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
- Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - I. Merida
- CERMEP-Imagerie du vivant, Lyon, France
| | - L. C. Pike
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - C. J. McGinnity
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - K. Beck
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK
- South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - O. Howes
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK
- South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - A. Hammers
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - P. K. Marsden
- King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
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