Feasibility of cardiac PET imaging using a temporal resolution of 90msec

Objectives: Ultra-fast real-time imaging of the heart can be enabled using advanced sparse count density image reconstruction techniques. This study demonstrates the feasibility of real-time PET acquisition faster than 100 milliseconds.

Methods: Within a prospective study assessing advanced acquisition and reconstruction techniques using digital PET/CT, 30 subjects enrolled with either oncologic or cardiovascular indications were chosen for this prospective sub study. ¹⁸F-FDG was administered with a target dose of 5 mCi and imaged using continuous listmode acquisition on a Philips Vereos digital photon counting PET/CT. An advanced image reconstruction environment has been utilized for development however the presented findings can be obtained on commercial system software. Blinded reader and quantitative assessments were performed using established Image Corelab Procedures.

Results: Real-time, 3D volume PET reconstruction of the whole heart was accomplished in all cases with a temporal resolution of 90 ms. All cases were visually and 25 out of 30 quantitatively classified as assessable. 5 cases with high BMI led to excessive noise and therefore were not evaluable at this frame rate. A BMI, count-density adaptive regularized reconstruction combined with PSF and Gaussian filtering was determined to be the essential enabler for this ultra-low count density / ultra-high temporal cardiac imaging.

Conclusions: Real time, continuous 3D cardiac volume PET imaging is feasible at 90 msec temporal resolution even with low PET tracer doses using advanced adaptive regularized reconstruction on digital PET opening a new window for advanced cardiac molecular imaging. Research Support: Ohio Third Frontier OSDA TECH 09-028 and 13-060 grants