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Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York; and Division of Brain Imaging, Department of Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: PET kinetic modeling graphic analysis noise
| INTRODUCTION |
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The graphic method has several attractive aspects. It is less computer intensive than classic compartmental analysis and not subject to the convergence problems that may arise with iterative methods. Furthermore, it allows derivation of VT without making assumptions about the compartmental configuration of the underlying data. For these reasons, the graphic method is widely used for analysis of neuroreceptor imaging studies performed with reversible radiotracers.
PET data always include a significant noise component, whose multiple sources have been discussed (3). In this article, we consider the effect of only noise with a zero mean value, that is, noise that increases and decreases measured PET values to the same extent. We show that this type of noise causes this graphic technique to systematically underestimate the outcome measure VT and that the amount of underestimation increases as the SD of the noise increases. We also show that the effect depends on VT itself, so that the effect is more pronounced in regions with high VT than regions with low VT. The implication is that if the distribution volume ratio (ratio of regional VT to the VT of a reference region) is used as an outcome measure, the distribution volume ratio will be underestimated as well.
The phenomenon of statistical bias caused by mean zero noise introduced by a change of variables may not be intuitively expected. Given that individual points are randomly increased or decreased by the same amount, why does the slope (i.e., VT) systematically decrease? In the case of the method of Logan et al. (1), the bias has been documented by Monte Carlo simulation in a study comparing the noise-related bias levels in several methods of PET analysis (4). Here, we replicate the Monte Carlo analysis as applied to 2 new and promising radiotracers, offer a theoretic explanation for the simulation results, describe the relationship between the bias in estimated VT and true VT, and show the presence of the effect in real PET datasets. In the graphic method, noise in the ROI curve appears in both the x and the y transformed variables, and the x noise and y noise are highly correlated. Draper and Smith (5) discuss the case in which the x and y variables have statistically independent noise. Here, we present reasoning that predicts the bias on the basis of the correlation structure.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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(Fig. 1). That is, (x,y) becomes (x +
,y +
). Consider the line segment from (x,y) to (x +
,y +
). The rise over the run of this segment will always be
/
= 1, and the perturbed point will be moved either down and to the left but above the original line or up and to the right but below the original line, according to the sign of
. Now map each data point yj = mxj, j = 1,. . .N, to (xj +
j,yj +
j), where the ej values are independent identically distributed random variables with mean zero and variance
2. Geometric intuition suggests that if the ordinary linear least squares regression slope is then computed, it will be less than m. This can be made mathematically rigorous by computing the expectation of the difference m M. The proof can be made to cover a much broader class of models without much extra effort. Now assume the true data are still y = mx but that the data points (x,y) are perturbed to (xj +
xj,yj +
yj), where the
xj values are independently distributed with mean zero and variance
2xj (not necessarily the same for all j) and the
yj values are independently distributed with mean zero and variance
2yj. Further, assume that for each j,
xj and
yj have covariance
xyj but that
xj and
yk are not correlated for j
k. Then setting D = N
(xj +
xj)2 (
xj +
xj)2, m M is equal to:
![]() | (Eq. 1) |
|
![]() | (Eq. 2) |
This expression will be positive when m > (
xyj)/(
xj2). In the simple case above,
xj =
yj and (
xyj)/(
xj2) = 1, which, by design, is less than m.
Graphic Method.
Analysis of the graphic method is not as simple as in the previous case, partly because multiple noise sources exist, including counting statistics both in the brain image and in Ca, measurement errors, and motion artifacts. Also, the noise has a more complicated effect on the data than in the model of the previous section, because of the transformation of variables. Typically, a fitting procedure such as a sum of exponentials is used to presmooth the plasma data, so that the effect of noise in the plasma data is minimized. Even if the plasma data have not been preprocessed, Ca, and therefore noise in Ca, appears only in an integral. Integration is a smoothing process that tends to reduce the effects of mean zero noise. Finally, noise in Ca can reasonably be assumed to be statistically independent of noise in the PET data, so that effects from plasma noise and ROI noise can be treated separately. Here, we ignore error in Ca, focusing instead on noise in the ROI curve. This noise will be assumed to have mean zero and variance
2j at time tj. Because the mean is zero, this noise will tend to be cancelled in
ROI(
)d
, provided
2j changes slowly over time. Let:
![]() | (Eq. 3) |
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| (Eq. 4) |
![]() | (Eq. 5) |
If we assume the magnitude of the noise is relatively small, the perturbed transformation can be approximated by a first-order Taylor expansion as:
| (Eq. 6) |
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Let this final expression be our new model process. For small
2j, this process and the graphic transformation will behave similarly. For this process, the ratio (
xyj)/(
xj2) is equal to:
![]() | (Eq. 7) |
At each point, the ratio SROI/SCa, which equals the ratio [Ty(ROI)]/Tx(ROI)] of the unperturbed variables is, by Equation 5, equal to:
![]() | (Eq. 8) |
The intercept b is negative, so (SROI/SCa) < m. Therefore,
![]() | (Eq. 9) |
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By Equation 2, the expected value of m m is positive.
At each time tj, the ratio SROI/SCa is the slope of the line segment from the original point to the perturbed point. Note from Equation 8 that the amount by which SROI/SCa deviates from the original slope m is equal to:
![]() | (Eq. 10) |
The denominator on the right side of Equation 10 will be the same across brain regions, but the numerator will tend to have a larger magnitude in regions with high uptake, both because ROI(t) will stay elevated and because a large m will drive b in the negative direction. This suggests that the bias effect will be more pronounced in regions with large VT, and our simulations support this suggestion.
Simulations
We examined data derived from 2 different experiments. The first set of analyses was based on the brain uptake of the 5HT1A antagonist [carbonyl-11C]WAY 100635 (6) in a baboon (R.V. Parsey, unpublished data, 1999). After a single bolus injection (injected dose, 60 MBq; specific activity, 27,417 GBq/mmol), emission data were acquired for 120 min, as previously described (7). The arterial input function was measured, corrected for the metabolites, and fitted to a sum of 3 exponentials (Fig. 2A). Regional uptake was analyzed using a 3-compartment kinetic analysis as previously described (7). Results from 3 regions were selected, representing regions with high uptake (cingulate cortex), regions with low uptake (dorsal raphe nuclei, DRN), and a reference region devoid of 5-HT1A receptors (cerebellum). Kinetic parameters were as follows: cingulate cortex, [K1, k2, k3, k4] = [0.4407, 0.3367, 0.1899, 0.027]; DRN, [K1, k2, k3, k4] = [0.2595, 0.1982, 0.0358, 0.0268]; and cerebellum, [K1, k2, k5, k6] = [0.6038, 0.8364, 0.0421, 0.0518], where K1 (mL/g/min) and k2 (per minute) describe the rate of transfer between the plasma to the free and nonspecific (nondisplaceable) compartments, k3 (per minute) and k4 (per minute) describe the rate of transfer between the nondisplaceable and specific compartments, and k5 (per minute) and k6 (per minute) describe the rate of transfer between the fast and the slow nondisplaceable compartments in the cerebellum.
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The second set of data was based on the brain uptake of the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist [11C]NNC 112 (8) in a human (injected dose, 648 MBq; specific activity, 48,655 GBq/mmol; Fig. 3). Details of the experimental and analysis procedures have been published (9). Three regions were selected, with high D1 receptor density (striatum), moderate D1 receptor density (subgenual prefrontal cortex, SGPC), or no detectable D1 receptors (cerebellum). Kinetic parameters derived from this experiment were as follows: striatum, [K1, k2, k3, k4] = [0.1533, 0.0674, 0.1241, 0.0358]; SGPC, [K1, k2, k3, k4] = [0.1674, 0.0736, 0.0727, 0.0453]; and cerebellum, [K1, k2] = [0.12, 0.0526] (i.e., 1 tissue compartment). As in the [11C]WAY 100635 experiment, noise-free curves were generated with these parameters, various levels of mean zero noise were added, noisy curves were analyzed with graphic analysis, and the results were plotted against the noise level.
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| RESULTS |
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| DISCUSSION |
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In this article, we considered the effect of only random mean zero noise, such as the noise associated with measurement of radioactive decay. Because the noise is expected to increase with the duration of the experiment (because of isotope decay), we also performed a simulation in which mean zero noise increased with time, and the results were similar (8).
Despite this problem, the graphic method is still preferable to kinetic compartmental analysis when nonlinear analysis is ill-conditioned. One advantage of the graphic method is that the derivation of VT does not depend on an underlying choice of compartment model. This property makes the method particularly useful when the possible error from noise bias is outweighed by the error from an inappropriate choice of model. For example, the cerebellum uptake of [11C]NNC 112 does not perfectly fit a 1-tissue-compartment model. However, the small size and slow kinetics of the third compartment result in poor identifiability of the cerebellum VT when the 2-tissue-compartment model is used (9). In this situation, graphic analysis is preferable, at least in the cerebellum.
Nevertheless, our results suggest that, when the data are appropriately described by a given compartmental configuration, kinetic analysis of untransformed data may be more robust than graphic analysis. In this situation, the proposition that graphic analysis is less sensitive to experimental noise is not correct (13), and nonlinear analysis of untransformed data may be the method of choice to analyze data from reversible neuroreceptor radiotracer PET studies. We propose that, at the minimum, the potential effect of this bias be carefully evaluated before graphic analysis is used for new radiotracers.
| CONCLUSION |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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For correspondence or reprints contact: Mark Slifstein, PhD, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Dr., Unit 31, New York, NY 10032.
| REFERENCES |
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