Attenuation correction in emission tomography using the emission data—A review

Journal Article · Mon Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2016 · Medical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4938264· OSTI ID:22579855

Berker, Yannick; Li, Yusheng ^[1]

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1. Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (United States)

The problem of attenuation correction (AC) for quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) had been considered solved to a large extent after the commercial availability of devices combining PET with computed tomography (CT) in 2001; single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has seen a similar development. However, stimulated in particular by technical advances toward clinical systems combining PET and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), research interest in alternative approaches for PET AC has grown substantially in the last years. In this comprehensive literature review, the authors first present theoretical results with relevance to simultaneous reconstruction of attenuation and activity. The authors then look back at the early history of this research area especially in PET; since this history is closely interwoven with that of similar approaches in SPECT, these will also be covered. We then review algorithmic advances in PET, including analytic and iterative algorithms. The analytic approaches are either based on the Helgason–Ludwig data consistency conditions of the Radon transform, or generalizations of John’s partial differential equation; with respect to iterative methods, we discuss maximum likelihood reconstruction of attenuation and activity (MLAA), the maximum likelihood attenuation correction factors (MLACF) algorithm, and their offspring. The description of methods is followed by a structured account of applications for simultaneous reconstruction techniques: this discussion covers organ-specific applications, applications specific to PET/MRI, applications using supplemental transmission information, and motion-aware applications. After briefly summarizing SPECT applications, we consider recent developments using emission data other than unscattered photons. In summary, developments using time-of-flight (TOF) PET emission data for AC have shown promising advances and open a wide range of applications. These techniques may both remedy deficiencies of purely MRI-based AC approaches in PET/MRI and improve standalone PET imaging.

• OSTI ID: 22579855
• Journal Information: Medical Physics, Journal Name: Medical Physics Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 43; ISSN 0094-2405; ISSN MPHYA6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ALGORITHMS
ATTENUATION
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
CORRECTIONS
ITERATIVE METHODS
MAGNETIC RESONANCE
MAXIMUM-LIKELIHOOD FIT
NMR IMAGING
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PHOTON EMISSION
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
RADON
REVIEWS
SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD