Abstract
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Objectives Simulated PET images are used to test new image processing methods. The aim of this work is to improve the realism of simulated whole body (WB) PET images through the incorporation of both anatomical and functional uptake variability.
Methods The images in the database are based on WB clinical images acquired with a PET/CT Philips GEMINI. The anatomical and activity distribution models were constructed using as basis the NCAT phantom. PET images were employed in order to model the variable FDG distributions. In order to model anatomical variability we used an interactive software application which allows a modification of the phantom’s anatomy. Variable activity distributions and shaped tumours manually segmented from patient images were added to this model. Finally, in order to take into consideration the non-uniform nature of respiration the default respiratory cycle of the NCAT is being replaced by the patient specific respiratory traces. The simulations were carried out using the PET-SORTEO simulation tool.
Results We have until now simulated ten patients. The simulated injected dose was between 8.35 and 9.34mCi in comparison to the clinical injected dose of 8.34-10.33mCi.
Conclusions In the future we aim at continuing the construction of a comprehensive simulated static and 4D WB PET image database. Future patient simulations for this database, which we intend to render public, will be also performed with GATE.
- © 2009 by Society of Nuclear Medicine