@article { author = {Yamashita, Shozo and Yokoyama, Kunihiko and Onoguchi, Masahisa and Yamamoto, Haruki and Nakaichi, Tetsu and Tsuji, Shiro and Nakajima, Kenichi}, title = {Importance of defect detectability in Positron Emission Tomography imaging of abdominal lesions}, journal = {Asia Oceania Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Biology}, volume = {3}, number = {2}, pages = {83-90}, year = {2015}, publisher = {Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in collaboration with AOFNMB}, issn = {2322-5718}, eissn = {2322-5726}, doi = {10.7508/aojnmb.2015.02.003}, abstract = {Objective(s): This study was designed to assess defect detectability in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of abdominal lesions. Methods: A National Electrical Manufactures Association International Electrotechnical Commission phantom was used. The simulated abdominal lesion was scanned for 10 min using dynamic list-mode acquisition method. Images, acquired with scan duration of 1-10 min, were reconstructed using VUE point HD and a 4.7 mm full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) Gaussian filter. Iteration-subset combinations of 2-16 and 2-32 were used. Visual and physical analyses were performed using the acquired images. To sequentially evaluate defect detectability in clinical settings, we examined two middle-aged male subjects. One had a liver cyst (approximately 10 mm in diameter) and the other suffered from pancreatic cancer with an inner defect region (approximately 9 mm in diameter). Results: In the phantom study, at least 6 and 3 min acquisition durations were required to visualize 10 and 13 mm defect spheres, respectively. On the other hand, spheres with diameters ≥17 mm could be detected even if the acquisition duration was only 1 min. The visual scores were significantly correlated with background (BG) variability. In clinical settings, the liver cyst could be slightly visualized with an acquisition duration of 6 min, although image quality was suboptimal. For pancreatic cancer, the acquisition duration of 3 min was insufficient to clearly describe the defect region. Conclusion: The improvement of BG variability is the most important factor for enhancing lesion detection. Our clinical scan duration (3 min/bed) may not be suitable for the detection of small lesions or accurate tumor delineation since an acquisition duration of at least 6 min is required to visualize 10 mm lesions, regardless of reconstruction parameters. Improvements in defect detectability are important for radiation treatment planning and accurate PET-based diagnosis.  }, keywords = {Positron Emission Tomography,defect detectability,abdominal lesion}, url = {https://aojnmb.mums.ac.ir/article_3590.html}, eprint = {https://aojnmb.mums.ac.ir/article_3590_57e46c85097f4a4244aac19df426d456.pdf} }