Subsecond total-body imaging using ultrasensitive positron emission tomography

Xuezhu Zhang, Simon R Cherry, Zhaoheng Xie, Hongcheng Shi, Ramsey D Badawi, Jinyi Qi, Xuezhu Zhang, Simon R Cherry, Zhaoheng Xie, Hongcheng Shi, Ramsey D Badawi, Jinyi Qi

Abstract

A 194-cm-long total-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner (uEXPLORER), has been constructed to offer a transformative platform for human radiotracer imaging in clinical research and healthcare. Its total-body coverage and exceptional sensitivity provide opportunities for innovative studies of physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology. The objective of this study is to develop a method to perform ultrahigh (100 ms) temporal resolution dynamic PET imaging by combining advanced dynamic image reconstruction paradigms with the uEXPLORER scanner. We aim to capture the fast dynamics of initial radiotracer distribution, as well as cardiac motion, in the human body. The results show that we can visualize radiotracer transport in the body on timescales of 100 ms and obtain motion-frozen images with superior image quality compared to conventional methods. The proposed method has applications in studying fast tracer dynamics, such as blood flow and the dynamic response to neural modulation, as well as performing real-time motion tracking (e.g., cardiac and respiratory motion, and gross body motion) without any external monitoring device (e.g., electrocardiogram, breathing belt, or optical trackers).

Keywords: fast tracer imaging; positron emission tomography; real-time motion capture; ultrahigh temporal resolution.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interest statement: University of California, Davis has a research agreement and a revenue sharing agreement with United Imaging Healthcare.

Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
(A) Reconstruction dynamic PET images (maximum intensity projection) of 10 consecutive 100-ms frames from 22 s postinjection. (B) Selected dynamic PET images of 100-ms frames alternating between the end-diastolic and end-systolic phases of five cardiac cycles. (C) Dynamic TACs from 100-ms frames. (D) RMSE of 0.1- and 1-s WB OSEM reconstructions and 0.1-s TB-KEM reconstruction.

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Source: PubMed

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