Towards integration of PET/MR hybrid imaging into radiation therapy treatment planning
Paulus D, Thorwath D, Schmidt H, Quick HH (2014)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2014
Journal
Publisher: American Association of Physicists in Medicine
Book Volume: 41
Pages Range: 072505
Journal Issue: 7
DOI: 10.1118/1.4881317
Abstract
Multimodality imaging has become an important adjunct of state-of-the-art radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning. Recently, simultaneous PET/MR hybrid imaging has become clinically available and may also contribute to target volume delineation and biological individualization in RT planning. For integration of PET/MR hybrid imaging into RT treatment planning, compatible dedicated RT devices are required for accurate patient positioning. In this study, prototype RT positioning devices intended for PET/MR hybrid imaging are introduced and tested toward PET/MR compatibility and image quality.A prototype flat RT table overlay and two radiofrequency (RF) coil holders that each fix one flexible body matrix RF coil for RT head/neck imaging have been evaluated within this study. MR image quality with the RT head setup was compared to the actual PET/MR setup with a dedicated head RF coil. PET photon attenuation and CT-based attenuation correction (AC) of the hardware components has been quantitatively evaluated by phantom scans. Clinical application of the new RT setup in PET/MR imaging was evaluated in anin vivo study.The RT table overlay and RF coil holders are fully PET/MR compatible. MR phantom and volunteer imaging with the RT head setup revealed high image quality, comparable to images acquired with the dedicated PET/MR head RF coil, albeit with 25% reduced SNR. Repositioning accuracy of the RF coil holders was below 1 mm. PET photon attenuation of the RT table overlay was calculated to be 3.8% and 13.8% for the RF coil holders. With CT-based AC of the devices, the underestimation error was reduced to 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Comparable results were found within the patient study.The newly designed RT devices for hybrid PET/MR imaging are PET and MR compatible. The mechanically rigid design and the reproducible positioning allow for straightforward CT-based AC. The systematic evaluation within this study provides the technical basis for the clinical integration of PET/MR hybrid imaging into RT treatment planning.
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Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Paulus, D., Thorwath, D., Schmidt, H., & Quick, H.H. (2014). Towards integration of PET/MR hybrid imaging into radiation therapy treatment planning. Medical Physics, 41(7), 072505. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4881317
MLA:
Paulus, Daniel, et al. "Towards integration of PET/MR hybrid imaging into radiation therapy treatment planning." Medical Physics 41.7 (2014): 072505.
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