Integrated Software Environment Based on COMKAT for Analyzing Tracer Pharmacokinetics with Molecular Imaging

An integrated software package, Compartment Model Kinetic Analysis Tool (COMKAT), is presented in this report. Methods: COMKAT is an open-source software package with many functions for incorporating pharmacokinetic analysis in molecular imaging research and has both command-line and graphical user interfaces. Results: With COMKAT, users may load and display images, draw regions of interest, load input functions, select kinetic models from a predefined list, or create a novel model and perform parameter estimation, all without having to write any computer code. For image analysis, COMKAT image tool supports multiple image file formats, including the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard. Image contrast, zoom, reslicing, display color table, and frame summation can be adjusted in COMKAT image tool. It also displays and automatically registers images from 2 modalities. Parametric imaging capability is provided and can be combined with the distributed computing support to enhance computation speeds. For users without MATLAB licenses, a compiled, executable version of COMKAT is available, although it currently has only a subset of the full COMKAT capability. Both the compiled and the noncompiled versions of COMKAT are free for academic research use. Extensive documentation, examples, and COMKAT itself are available on its wiki-based Web site, http://comkat.case.edu. Users are encouraged to contribute, sharing their experience, examples, and extensions of COMKAT. Conclusion: With integrated functionality specifically designed for imaging and kinetic modeling analysis, COMKAT can be used as a software environment for molecular imaging and pharmacokinetic analysis.