Computational Collaborative Project in Synergistic PET-MR Reconstruction

磁共振（MR）和利用正电子发射断层扫描（PET）的放射性核素成像在医学诊断、临床研究和药物开发中已经确立了自己的作用。由于认识到这两种模式的互补性，制造商已经设计和销售了集成PET-MR扫描仪，这两种模式在历史上是分开使用的。这些设备开辟了令人兴奋的途径，在许多领域利用这两种模式之间的协同作用，包括痴呆，心脏病学和动态过程的研究，如肿瘤对造影剂的摄取。这两种模式都是层析成像：从测量数据中，可以使用复杂的算法重建代表患者解剖和功能特性的（成堆）切片或体积。图像质量在很大程度上取决于图像重建方法。在患者数据上开发和测试新算法需要大量的专业知识和软件实现方面的努力。我们将建立一个新的协作计算项目（CCP），将在图像重建领域从事不同地点和PET和/或MR不同模式的研究人员联系起来，重点关注集成PET-MR的后勤和计算方面。该CCP提供的平台将是一种使能技术，可以消除在处理PET和MR扫描仪获得的原始医学成像数据集时经常遇到的障碍。以标准化格式处理数据将是简单的，大规模地帮助和加速PET-MR图像重建和处理的创新发展，并最终使协同图像重建成为可能。

Magnetic Resonance (MR) and radionuclide imaging using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have established roles in medical diagnosis, clinical research and drug development. In recognition of the complementary nature of these two modalities, which have historically been used separately, integrated PET-MR scanners have been designed and marketed by manufacturers. These devices open-up exciting avenues to exploit the synergy between these two modalities in many areas, including dementia, cardiology, and investigation of dynamic processes such as the uptake of contrast agents by tumours.Both modalities are tomographic: from the measured data, (stacks of) slices or volumes representing anatomical and functional properties of the patient can be reconstructed using sophisticated algorithms. Image quality is critically dependent on image reconstruction methods. Development and testing of novel algorithms on patient data requires considerable expertise and effort in software implementation. We will establish a new Collaborative Computational Project (CCP) to connect researchers working at different sites and on the different modalities of PET and/or MR in the area of image reconstruction, concentrating on the logistical and computational aspects of integrated PET-MR.The platform to be provided by this CCP will be an enabling technology which removes the frequent obstacles encountered when working with the raw medical imaging datasets acquired by PET and MR scanners. It will be straightforward to work with data in a standardized format, massively aiding and accelerating innovative developments in image reconstruction and processing for PET-MR, and ultimately enabling the possibility of synergistic image reconstruction.