Quantification, improvement, and harmonization of small lesion detection with state-of-the-art PET

Charlotte S van der Vos, Daniëlle Koopman, Sjoerd Rijnsdorp, Albert J Arends, Ronald Boellaard, Jorn A van Dalen, Mark Lubberink, Antoon T M Willemsen, Eric P Visser

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

153 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In recent years, there have been multiple advances in positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) that improve cancer imaging. The present generation of PET/CT scanners introduces new hardware, software, and acquisition methods. This review describes these new developments, which include time-of-flight (TOF), point-spread-function (PSF), maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) based reconstruction, smaller voxels, respiratory gating, metal artefact reduction, and administration of quadratic weight-dependent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) activity. Also, hardware developments such as continuous bed motion (CBM), (digital) solid-state photodetectors and combined PET and magnetic resonance (MR) systems are explained. These novel techniques have a significant impact on cancer imaging, as they result in better image quality, improved small lesion detectability, and more accurate quantification of radiopharmaceutical uptake. This influences cancer diagnosis and staging, as well as therapy response monitoring and radiotherapy planning. Finally, the possible impact of these developments on the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) guidelines and EANM Research Ltd. (EARL) accreditation for FDG-PET/CT tumor imaging is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4-16
Number of pages13
JournalEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging
Volume44
Issue numberSuppl 1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2017

Keywords

  • Journal Article
  • Review

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