Quantitative Cardiac PET/CT Imaging

描述(申请人提供)：正电子发射断层扫描(PET)与计算机断层扫描(CT)相结合，在集成的PET/CT扫描仪中提供了一种用于诊断冠状动脉疾病的单一研究、非侵入性技术。PET/CT心脏扫描可以提供补充的功能和解剖评估：PET可以量化心肌灌注和代谢，提供对小血管疾病和组织存活的洞察；而增强CT血管成像提供关于冠状动脉解剖和动脉粥样硬化负担的信息。PET提供了真正定量测量的可能性，但这种定量受到(1)基于CT的衰减校正(CTAC)因子的错位和(2)PET成像的有限灵敏度的干扰。呼吸运动、心脏运动和/或患者运动会导致CTAC图像和PET图像之间的不对准。为了减少这种错位，Aim 1开发和评估了专为心脏PET成像中的衰减校正量身定做的CT采集协议，以提高定性和定量的准确性。PET成像的灵敏度有限，导致动态研究中存在噪声，需要在多个呼吸和心脏周期内采集图像。目的研究在心脏正电子发射计算机断层成像(PET)中，为估计心肌血流量而量身定做的重建方法，以减少这些退化。这项研究计划是对全面培训计划的补充，旨在促进阿莱西奥博士发展成为华盛顿大学放射科的生物成像研究员和初级教员。阿莱西奥博士之前的研究重点是统计图像处理和断层重建。拟议的培训计划包括指导、生物医学课程和学术活动，将使他能够过渡到生物医学角色，并解决心脏成像方面的紧迫临床问题。这项建议的导师代表了数十年的经验-James Caldwell和James Bassingthwaighte负责心血管功能和建模，Thomas Lewellen和Paul Kinahan负责核医学物理、图像生成和临床方案优化。华盛顿大学拥有国际公认的心血管生物工程、核心脏病学和诊断物理学专业，是发展将最先进的成像技术与冠心病评估的临床需求相结合的独立研究事业的理想环境。这一发展将有助于解决被广泛认为是心脏PET/CT成像中最重要的挑战。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Positron emission tomography (PET) combined with computed tomography (CT) in an integrated PET/CT scanner offers a single-study, noninvasive technique for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. PET/CT cardiac scans can provide complementary functional and anatomic assessments: PET can quantitate myocardial perfusion and metabolism offering insight into small vessel disease and tissue viability; while contrast enhanced CT angiography provides information on coronary anatomy and atherosclerotic burden. PET offers the potential for truly quantitative measurements, but this quantitation is confounded by (1) misaligned CT-based attenuation correction (CTAC) factors and (2) the limited sensitivity of PET imaging. Respiratory motion, cardiac motion, and/or patient movement cause misalignment between the CTAC image and the PET image. To reduce this misalignment, Aim 1 develops and evaluates CT acquisition protocols tailored for attenuation correction in cardiac PET imaging to improve qualitative and quantitative accuracy. The limited sensitivity of PET imaging results in noisy dynamic studies and requires image acquisitions over multiple respiratory and cardiac cycles. Aim 2 investigates methods to reduce these degradations with reconstruction methods tailored for myocardial blood flow estimation in cardiac PET imaging. This research plan complements a comprehensive training plan to facilitate Dr. Alessio's development as a bioimaging researcher and junior faculty member in the Department of Radiology at the University of Washington. Dr. Alessio's previous research has focused on statistical image processing and tomographic reconstruction. The proposed training plan including mentoring, biomedical coursework, and scholarly activities will allow him to transition into a biomedical role and solve pressing clinical problems in cardiac imaging. The mentors for this proposal represent several decades of experience - James Caldwell and James Bassingthwaighte for cardiovascular function and modeling and Thomas Lewellen and Paul Kinahan for nuclear medicine physics, image generation, and clinical protocol optimization. The University of Washington, with its internationally recognized programs in cardiovascular bioengineering, nuclear cardiology, and diagnostic physics, is an ideal environment for the development of an independent research career combining state of the art imaging techniques with clinical needs for the assessment of coronary disease. This development will occur while contributing solutions to what are widely recognized as the most important challenges in cardiac PET/CT imaging.