A graphical user interface for calculating the arterial input function during dynamic positron emission tomography

Autor: Youstina Daoud, Liam Carroll, Shirin A Enger
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Physics in Medicine & Biology.
ISSN: 1361-6560
0031-9155
Popis: Purpose Dynamic Positron Emission Tomography (dPET) requires acquisition of the arterial input function (AIF), conventionally obtained via invasive arterial blood sampling. To obtain the AIF non-invasively, our group developed and combined two novel solutions consisting of 1) a detector, placed on a patient’s wrist during the PET scans to measure the radiation leaving the wrist and 2) a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation software. The simulations require patient-specific wrist geometry. The aim of this study was to develop a graphical user interface (GUI) allowing the user to import 2D ultrasound scans of a patient’s wrist, and measure the wrist features needed to calculate the AIF. Methods The GUI elements were implemented using Qt5 and VTK-8.2.0. The user imports a patient’s wrist ultrasound scans, measures the radial artery and veins’ surface and depth to model a wrist phantom, then specifies the radioactive source used during the dPET scan. The phantom, the source and number of decay events are imported into the Geant4-based Monte Carlo software to run a simulation. In this study, 100 million decays of 18F and 68Ga were simulated in a wrist phantom designed based on an ultrasound scan. The detector’s efficiency was calculated and the results were analyzed using a clinical data processing algorithm developed in a previous study. Results The detector’s total efficiency decreased by 3.5% for 18F and by 51.7% for 68Ga when using a phantom based on ultrasound scans compared to a generic wrist phantom. Similarly, the data processing algorithm’s accuracy decreased when using the patient-specific phantom, giving errors greater than 1.0% for both radioisotopes. Conclusions This toolkit enables the user to run Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulations for dPET detector development applications using a patient-specific wrist phantom. Leading to a more precise simulation of the developed detector during dPET and the calculation of a personalized AIF.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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