RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Incorporating PET/CT into the novel real-time virtual sonography
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 1387
OP 1387
VO 51
IS supplement 2
A1 Guang-Uei Hung
YR 2010
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/51/supplement_2/1387.abstract
AB 1387 Objectives Real-time virtual sonography (RVS) is an advanced imaging technique which provides the same cross-sectional multiplanar reconstruction images of CT or MRI as ultrasound images on the same monitor screen in real time to facilitate localizing the target lesions during performing sonography. However, the original design of RVS can only fuse with CT or MRI, but not for PET/CT. The purpose of this study was to create a method to incorporate the PET/CT images into RVS. Methods The images of FDG-PET/CT with positive findings were selected for processing by commercially available software (PMOD Ver. 3.11) with the following methods. First, the FDG-avid lesions on PET images were automatically generated on the CT images of PET/CT. Second, the modified CT images were captured slice by slice. Third, the color of captured images was transformed into monochrome and then saved as CT volume data in DICOM format. Finally, the data were tested on the RVS system. In addition, the performances of localizing the FDG-avid lesions by sonography with and without the assistance of PET/CT-incorporated RVS system (PET/CT-RVS) were compared in a patient suspected of recurrence and/or metastasis of gastric cancer. Results The CT volume data showing FDG-avid lesions processed by aforementioned procedures could be successfully displayed on the RVS. The patient was found to have four hypermetabolic nodular lesions in upper abdomen on PET/CT and received abdominal sonography for localization of the lesions. Before PET/CT-RVS, only one lesion was localized in the marginal area of left hepatic lobe by the sonography, considered as hepatic metastasis. After PET/CT-RVS, two more lesions were confidently localized around the hilar areas of liver, considered as hepatic lymph node metastasis. Conclusions Our method first successfully incorporated the PET/CT images into the novel RVS system. In the future, further localization of positive lesions on PET/CT with sonography for diagnosis, biopsy or therapeutic intervention may also benefit from the novel RVS system based on our method without additional radiation exposure