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Purpose : Monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based PET (immunoPET) imaging can characterise tumour lesions non-invasively. It may be a valuable tool to determine which patients may benefit from treatment with a specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) and evaluate treatment response. For 89Zr immunoPET imaging, higher sensitivity of state-of-the art PET/CT systems equipped with silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)-based detector elements may be beneficial as the low positron abundance of 89Zr causes a low signal-to-noise level. Moreover, the long physical half-life limits the amount of activity that can be administered to the patients leading to poor image quality even when using long scan durations. Here, we investigated the difference in semiquantitative performance between the PMT-based Biograph mCT, our clinical reference system, and the SiPM-based Biograph Vision PET/CT in 89Zr immunoPET imaging. Furthermore, the effects of scan duration reduction using the Vision on semiquantitative imaging parameters and its influence on image quality assessment were evaluated. Methods: Data were acquired on day 4 post 37 MBq 89Zr-labelled mAb injection. Five patients underwent a double scan protocol on both systems. Ten patients were scanned only on the Vision. For PET image reconstruction, three protocols were used, i.e. one camera-dependent protocol and European Association of Nuclear Medicine Research Limited (EARL) standards 1 and 2 compliant protocols. Vision data were acquired in listmode and were reprocessed to obtain images at shorter scan durations. Semiquantitative PET image parameters were derived from tumour lesions and healthy tissues to assess differences between systems and scan durations. Differently reconstructed images obtained using the Vision were visually scored regarding image quality by two nuclear medicine physicians. Results: When images were reconstructed using 100% acquisition time on both systems following EARL standard 1 compliant reconstruction protocols, results regarding semiquantification were comparable. For Vision data, reconstructed images that conform to EARL1 standards still resulted in comparable semiquantification at shorter scan durations (75% and 50%) regarding 100% acquisition time. Conclusion: Scan duration of 89Zr immunoPET imaging using the Vision can be decreased up to 50% compared with using the mCT while maintaining image quality using the EARL1 compliant reconstruction protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Florbetaben is a β-amyloid-targeted PET tracer with significant potential for augmenting the toolbox in the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In dementia imaging, shortening of scan duration may simplify future clinical use. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the effect of scan duration on diagnostic accuracy. Methods: PET scans obtained from 25 AD patients and 25 healthy volunteers (HVs) were analysed. In each subject, scans of three different durations (5, 10 and 20 min; all starting 90 min after injection) were obtained, randomized, and visually assessed by three experts blinded to the subject's identity and group affiliation. Presence/absence of β-amyloid and diagnostic confidence (0-100 %) were scored, and 10 % of the scans were re-read. Further, randomly selected datasets of ten AD patients and ten HVs were quantified using an established VOI-based approach and using a voxel-based approach. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the blinded read were 80 % and 96 %, respectively, for all scan durations. Diagnostic confidence was high (97 ± 6 %, 97 ± 6 % and 95 ± 8 % for the 20-min, 10-min and 5-min scans, respectively; n.s.), as was interreader agreement (kappa = 0.94, kappa = 0.94, kappa = 0.89; n.s.). Intrareader agreement was highest for the 20-min scan (kappa = 1.00) and lower for the 10-min scan (kappa = 0.71) and 5-min scan (kappa = 0.80; p = 0.002 and 0.003 vs. the 20-min scan). For all scan durations, composite SUVRs (Cohen's d effect size 4.5, 3.9 and 4.8 for the 5-min, 10-min and 20-min scans; p < 0.0001 each) and individual brain volumes affected by β-amyloid (Cohen's d effect size 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 for the 5-min, 10-min and 20-min scans; p < 0.005 each) were significantly higher in AD patients than in HVs. Conclusion: Reduction in scan duration did not relevantly affect the accuracy of florbetaben PET scans in discriminating between AD patients and HVs. Thus, a reduction in scan duration seems conceivable for the future clinical use of florbetaben. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shortening scan time and/or reducing radiation dose at maintained image quality are the main issues of the current research in radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). We aimed to validate a new iterative reconstruction (IR) algorithm for SPECT MPI allowing shortened acquisition time (HALF time) while maintaining image quality vs. standard full time acquisition (FULL time). In this study, 50 patients, referred for evaluation of known or suspected coronary artery disease by SPECT MPI using 99mTc-Tetrofosmin, underwent 1-day adenosine stress 300 MBq/rest 900 MBq protocol with standard (stress 15 min/rest 15 min FULL time) immediately followed by short emission scan (stress 9 min/rest 7 min HALF time) on a Ventri SPECT camera (GE Healthcare). FULL time scans were processed with IR, short scans were additionally processed with a recently developed software algorithm for HALF time emission scans. All reconstructions were subsequently analyzed using commercially available software (QPS/QGS, Cedars Medical Sinai) with/without X-ray based attenuation correction (AC). Uptake values (percent of maximum) were compared by regression and Bland-Altman (BA) analysis in a 20-segment model. HALF scans yielded a 96% readout and 100% clinical diagnosis concordance compared to FULL. Correlation for uptake in each segment ( n = 1,000) was r = 0.87at stress ( p < 0.001) and r = 0.89 at rest ( p < 0.001) with respective BA limits of agreement of −11% to 10% and −12% to 11%. After AC similar correlation ( r = 0.82, rest; r = 0.80, stress, both p < 0.001) and BA limits were found (−12% to 10%; −13% to 12%). With the new IR algorithm, SPECT MPI can be acquired at half of the scan time without compromising image quality, resulting in an excellent agreement with FULL time scans regarding to uptake and clinical conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]