CAREER: Next Generation Positron Emission Tomography Integrated with Magnetic Resonance Imaging

新出现的正电子发射断层扫描与核磁共振成像(PET/MRI)系统相结合，代表了生物医学成像领域的前沿技术。虽然目前正在进行第一批临床研究，以评估多模式成像这一重大突破的前景，但在这项技术进入常规应用之前，仍需解决或开发方法学挑战和潜力。这项拟议的研究调查了PET成像中的“超校正”技术，以彻底改变体内最敏感的分子成像方式之一，将其与MRI信息相结合。该项目将是朝着实现PET和MRI的全部技术能力迈出的重要一步，将其能力扩展到肿瘤学、神经学和心脏病的诊断和预后益处，从而改善患者护理和研究。除了科学研究活动外，该项目还制定了计划，通过研究、教育和推广相结合的活动来实现PI的教育目标。新的生物医学工程课程预计将满足密歇根州东南部学生日益增长的需求，并为下一代工程师和科学家提供高质量的生物医学成像培训。通过这个项目和大学预科生物医学工程项目提供的研究机会将吸引女性和历史上代表性不足的学生在工程学科追求职业生涯。在线医学成像资源将促进公众对生物医学成像领域的了解，为其稳步发展播下种子。尽管PET和MRI的潜力令人兴奋，但这项新技术在临床接受方面的进展明显慢于预期。由于缺乏用于PET衰减校正的传输源以及未充分发掘MR信息的好处，因此需要解决由于这两个系统的集成而带来的一系列挑战。拟议的职业发展计划是一项系统性的努力，旨在推进PET/MRI混合系统，以实现更具定义的应用。该奖项将完成的具体研究目标包括：a)确定MR辅助的联合PET活动和衰减估计技术；b)评估MR辅助的运动敏感PET图像重建技术；c)研究用于部分体积校正的MR辅助PET图像重建技术；d)使用真实模拟的PET和MRI数据以及用于脑、心脏和全身成像的物理模型实验来定量评估和验证技术。提出的从飞行时间PET数据中进行MR辅助的活动和衰减联合估计的研究有望消除由基于MR分割的衰减图所引起的区域变化的偏差。提出的MR辅助运动校正和部分体积校正的研究将充分利用高分辨率、高软组织对比度的MR图像来抑制器官运动模糊，克服PET成像分辨率的固有局限性。该项目成功完成后，有可能给PET和MRI混合系统带来革命性的变化，带来新的科学发现和临床应用。

The emerging hybrid Positron Emission Tomography integrated with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (PET/MRI) system represents the cutting edge technology in the field of biomedical imaging. While first clinical studies are currently underway to assess the prospect of this major breakthrough in multimodal imaging, methodological challenges and potentials still need to be addressed or exploited before this technology finds its way to routine applications. The proposed research investigates "super-correction" techniques in PET imaging to revolutionize one of the most sensitive in vivo molecular imaging modalities when integrated with MRI information. The project will be an important step toward reaching the full technological capabilities of PET and MRI, extending its capabilities to diagnostic and prognostic benefits for oncologic, neurologic, and cardiologic diseases thus improving patient care and research. Besides scientific research activities, this project also draws up plans to reach the PI's educational goals through activities to integrate research, education, and outreach. The new biomedical engineering curricula are expected to meet the growing demands of students from southeast Michigan and provide high-quality training to the next generation engineers and scientists in biomedical imaging. The research opportunities provided through this project and the pre-college biomedical engineering programs will attract female and historically under-represented students to pursue careers in the engineering discipline. The online medical imaging resource will promote public understanding of the biomedical imaging field to plant seeds for its steady growth.Despite the considerable excitement about the potential of PET and MRI, this new technology is evolving significantly slowly than expected toward its clinical acceptance. Difficulties due to lack of transmission source for PET attenuation correction and underexplored benefits of MR information demands the need to address set of challenges due to integration of these two systems. The proposed career development plan is a systematic effort to advance the hybrid PET/MRI system to enable for more defining applications. The specific research objectives to be accomplished during this award include: a) to determine MR-assisted joint PET activity and attenuation estimation techniques, b) to evaluate MR-assisted motion-sensitive PET image reconstruction techniques, c) to investigate MR-assisted PET image reconstruction techniques for partial volume correction, and d) to evaluate and validate techniques quantitatively using realistically simulated PET and MRI data and physical phantom experiments for brain, cardiac, and whole-body imaging. The proposed research on MR-assisted joint estimation of activity and attenuation from the time-of-flight PET data is expected to eliminate the regionally varying bias resulted from the MR segmentation-based attenuation map. The proposed study on MR-assisted motion correction and partial volume correction will fully take advantage of the high-resolution, high soft-tissue contrast MR images to suppress the organ motion blurring and conquer the inherent limitations of PET imaging resolution. When successfully completed, the project has the potential to revolutionize the hybrid PET and MRI system leading to new scientific discoveries and clinical applications.