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Optimization-derived blood input function using a kernel method and its evaluation with total-body PET for brain parametric imaging.

NeuroImage 2024 April 19
UNLABELLED: Dynamic PET allows quantification of physiological parameters through tracer kinetic modeling. For dynamic imaging of brain or head and neck cancer on conventional PET scanners with a short axial field of view (FOV), the image-derived input function (ID-IF) from intracranial blood vessels such as the carotid artery (CA) suffers from severe partial volume effects. Alternatively, optimization-derived input function (OD-IF) by the simultaneous estimation (SIME) method does not rely on an ID-IF but derives the input function directly from the data. However, the optimization problem is often highly ill-posed. We proposed a new method that combines the ideas of OD-IF and ID-IF together through a kernel framework. While evaluation of such a method is challenging in human subjects, we used the uEXPLORER total-body PET system that covers major blood pools to provide a reference for validation.

METHODS: The conventional SIME approach estimates an input function using a joint estimation together with kinetic parameters by fitting time activity curves from multiple regions of interests (ROIs). The input function is commonly parameterized with a highly nonlinear model which is difficult to estimate. The proposed kernel SIME method exploits the CA ID-IF as a priori information via a kernel representation to stabilize the SIME approach. The unknown parameters are linear and thus easier to estimate. The proposed method was evaluated using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose studies with both computer simulations and 20 human-subject scans acquired on the uEXPLORER scanner. The effect of the number of ROIs on kernel SIME was also explored.

RESULTS: The estimated OD-IF by kernel SIME showed a good match with the reference input function and provided more accurate estimation of kinetic parameters for both simulation and human-subject data. The kernel SIME led to the highest correlation coefficient (R=0.97) and the lowest mean absolute error (MAE=10.5%) compared to using the CA ID-IF (R=0.86, MAE=108.2%) and conventional SIME (R=0.57, MAE=78.7%) in the human-subject evaluation. Adding more ROIs improved the overall performance of the kernel SIME method.

CONCLUSION: The proposed kernel SIME method shows promise to provide an accurate estimation of the blood input function and kinetic parameters for brain PET parametric imaging.

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