The utility of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI for delineating regions of interest in PET

In this technological report, we investigate the utility of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WBDWI) as a prior for defining regions of interest (ROI) in PET data. Due to its comparatively high resolution and excellent lesion-to-background ratio, semi-automatic segmentation is possible in WBDWI. Following rigid registration of PET to WBDWI, a simple, fast and automatic algorithm can be used to define ROIs in PET data. This approach is applied to a test cohort of patients diagnosed with lymphoma who underwent both (18)FDG-PET/CT and WBDWI studies to demonstrate its potential application. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[1]  M. Morris,et al.  Imaging therapeutic response in human bone marrow using rapid whole‐body MRI , 2004, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[2]  G Lucignani,et al.  The use of standardized uptake values for assessing FDG uptake with PET in oncology: a clinical perspective , 2004, Nuclear medicine communications.

[3]  John C Waterton,et al.  Qualification of imaging biomarkers for oncology drug development. , 2012, European journal of cancer.

[4]  A. Jemal,et al.  Cancer Statistics, 2010 , 2010, CA: a cancer journal for clinicians.

[5]  B A Turlach,et al.  Assessment of tumour response with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography using three-dimensional measures compared to SUVmax—a phantom study , 2008, Physics in medicine and biology.

[6]  V. Wedeen,et al.  Reduction of eddy‐current‐induced distortion in diffusion MRI using a twice‐refocused spin echo , 2003, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[7]  D. Collins,et al.  Computed diffusion-weighted MR imaging may improve tumor detection. , 2011, Radiology.

[8]  T. Takahara,et al.  Diffusion weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS): technical improvement using free breathing, STIR and high resolution 3D display. , 2004, Radiation medicine.

[9]  R. Boellaard,et al.  Effects of noise, image resolution, and ROI definition on the accuracy of standard uptake values: a simulation study. , 2004, Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine.