Effect of Reconstruction Algorithms on Myocardial Blood Flow Measurement with 13N-ammonia PET

Overview

Journal J Nucl Med

Specialty Nuclear Medicine

Date 2007 Jul 17

PMID 17631543

Citations 11

Authors

Grace P Chen

Kelley R Branch

Adam M Alessio

Pam Pham

Ramin Tabibiazar

Paul Kinahan

James H Caldwell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Unlabelled: Filtered backprojection (FBP) is the traditional method for 13N-NH3 PET studies. Ordered-subsets expectation maximization (OSEM) is popular for PET studies because of better noise properties. Scant data exist on the effect of reconstruction algorithms on quantitative myocardial blood flow (MBF) estimation.

Methods: Twenty patients underwent dynamic acquisition rest/stress 13N-NH3 studies. In Part 1, 19 rest/stress image pairs were reconstructed by FBP (10-mm Hanning filter) and by OSEM with 28 subsets and 2 (OSEM2), 6 (OSEM6), or 8 iterations (OSEM8), and a 10-mm postreconstruction smoothing gaussian filter. In Part 2, 9 image pairs were reconstructed by FBP (10-mm Hanning filter) and by OSEM with 28 subsets, 8 iterations, and a gaussian 5-, 10-, or 15-mm postreconstruction smoothing filter. Average MBF (mL/min/mL of myocardium) was calculated using a 3-compartment model.

Results: Part 1: For rest MBF, the correlations between FBP and each of the OSEM algorithms were r2 = 0.71, 0.73, and 0.77, respectively. MBF by OSEM6 (0.98 +/- 0.48 [mean +/- SD]) and OSEM8 (0.96 +/- 0.46) was not significantly different from FBP (1.02 +/- 0.39), but OSEM2 (0.80 +/- 0.37) was significantly lower (P < 0.0003). With stress, the correlations were high between FBP and OSEM6 and OSEM8 (r2 = 0.85 and 0.90), and MBF by OSEM6 and OSEM8 was not significantly different from FBP. Part 2: Resting MBF correlated well between FBP and all OSEM smoothing filters (r2 = 0.82, 0.85, and 0.88). Rest MBF using postsmoothing 5- or 10-mm filters was not different from FBP but was significantly lower with the 15-mm filter (P < 0.05). With stress, the correlations were good between FBP and OSEM regardless of smoothing (r2 = 0.76, 0.77, and 0.79). However, MBF with postsmoothing 10- and 15-mm filters was significantly lower than by FBP (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Reconstruction algorithms significantly affect the estimation of quantitative blood flow data and should not be assumed to be interchangeable. Although aggressive smoothing may produce visually appealing images with reduced noise levels, it may cause an underestimation of absolute quantitative MBF. In selecting a reconstruction algorithm, an optimal balance between noise properties and diagnostic accuracy must be emphasized.

Citing Articles

Impact of deep learning denoising on kinetic modelling for low-dose dynamic PET: application to single- and dual-tracer imaging protocols.

Muller F, Li E, Daube-Witherspoon M, Pantel A, Wiers C, Dubroff J Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2025; .

PMID: 40069458 DOI: 10.1007/s00259-025-07182-6.

Direct List Mode Parametric Reconstruction for Dynamic Cardiac SPECT.

Shi L, Lu Y, Wu J, Gallezot J, Boutagy N, Thorn S IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2019; 39(1):119-128.

PMID: 31180845 PMC: 7030971. DOI: 10.1109/TMI.2019.2921969.

Clinical Quantification of Myocardial Blood Flow Using PET: Joint Position Paper of the SNMMI Cardiovascular Council and the ASNC.

Murthy V, Bateman T, Beanlands R, Berman D, Borges-Neto S, Chareonthaitawee P J Nucl Cardiol. 2017; 25(1):269-297.

PMID: 29243073 DOI: 10.1007/s12350-017-1110-x.

How to reconstruct dynamic cardiac PET data?.

Slomka P, Alessio A, Germano G J Nucl Cardiol. 2016; 24(1):291-293.

PMID: 27473215 DOI: 10.1007/s12350-016-0608-y.

Effect of Post-Reconstruction Gaussian Filtering on Image Quality and Myocardial Blood Flow Measurement with N-13 Ammonia PET.

Kim H, Cho S, Kim J, Kwon S, Lee B, Bom H Asia Ocean J Nucl Med Biol. 2016; 2(2):104-10.

PMID: 27408866 PMC: 4937694.

References

Wang C, Snyder W, Bilbro G, Santago P . Performance evaluation of filtered backprojection reconstruction and iterative reconstruction methods for PET images. Comput Biol Med. 1998; 28(1):13-24; discussion 24-5. DOI: 10.1016/s0010-4825(97)00031-0. View

Razifar P, Sandstrom M, Schnieder H, Langstrom B, Maripuu E, Bengtsson E . Noise correlation in PET, CT, SPECT and PET/CT data evaluated using autocorrelation function: a phantom study on data, reconstructed using FBP and OSEM. BMC Med Imaging. 2005; 5:5. PMC: 1208889. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2342-5-5. View

Boellaard R, van Lingen A, Lammertsma A . Experimental and clinical evaluation of iterative reconstruction (OSEM) in dynamic PET: quantitative characteristics and effects on kinetic modeling. J Nucl Med. 2001; 42(5):808-17. View

Hutchins G, Schwaiger M, Rosenspire K, Krivokapich J, Schelbert H, Kuhl D . Noninvasive quantification of regional blood flow in the human heart using N-13 ammonia and dynamic positron emission tomographic imaging. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1990; 15(5):1032-42. DOI: 10.1016/0735-1097(90)90237-j. View

Kotzerke J, Glatting G, van den Hoff J, Hoher M, Neumaier B, Wohrle J . Validation of myocardial blood flow estimation with nitrogen-13 ammonia PET by the argon inert gas technique in humans. Eur J Nucl Med. 2001; 28(3):340-5. DOI: 10.1007/s002590000459. View

Muzik O, Beanlands R, Hutchins G, Mangner T, Nguyen N, Schwaiger M . Validation of nitrogen-13-ammonia tracer kinetic model for quantification of myocardial blood flow using PET. J Nucl Med. 1993; 34(1):83-91. View

Khorsand A, Graf S, Pirich C, Muzik O, Kletter K, Dudczak R . Assessment of myocardial perfusion by dynamic N-13 ammonia PET imaging: comparison of 2 tracer kinetic models. J Nucl Cardiol. 2005; 12(4):410-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.nuclcard.2005.04.002. View

Hudson H, Larkin R . Accelerated image reconstruction using ordered subsets of projection data. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 1994; 13(4):601-9. DOI: 10.1109/42.363108. View

Nitzsche E, Choi Y, Czernin J, Hoh C, Huang S, Schelbert H . Noninvasive quantification of myocardial blood flow in humans. A direct comparison of the [13N]ammonia and the [15O]water techniques. Circulation. 1996; 93(11):2000-6. DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.93.11.2000. View

10.

Beanlands R, Muzik O, Melon P, Sutor R, Sawada S, Muller D . Noninvasive quantification of regional myocardial flow reserve in patients with coronary atherosclerosis using nitrogen-13 ammonia positron emission tomography. Determination of extent of altered vascular reactivity. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1995; 26(6):1465-75. DOI: 10.1016/0735-1097(95)00359-2. View

11.

Heymann M, Payne B, Hoffman J, Rudolph A . Blood flow measurements with radionuclide-labeled particles. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 1977; 20(1):55-79. DOI: 10.1016/s0033-0620(77)80005-4. View

12.

Lubberink M, Boellaard R, van der Weerdt A, Visser F, Lammertsma A . Quantitative comparison of analytic and iterative reconstruction methods in 2- and 3-dimensional dynamic cardiac 18F-FDG PET. J Nucl Med. 2004; 45(12):2008-15. View

13.

Bacharach S, Bax J, Case J, Delbeke D, Kurdziel K, Martin W . PET myocardial glucose metabolism and perfusion imaging: Part 1-Guidelines for data acquisition and patient preparation. J Nucl Cardiol. 2003; 10(5):543-56. DOI: 10.1016/s1071-3581(03)00648-2. View

14.

Schelbert H, Phelps M, Huang S, MACDONALD N, Hansen H, Selin C . N-13 ammonia as an indicator of myocardial blood flow. Circulation. 1981; 63(6):1259-72. DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.63.6.1259. View

15.

Link J, Stratton J, Levy W, Poole J, Shoner S, Stuetzle W . PET measures of pre- and post-synaptic cardiac beta adrenergic function. Nucl Med Biol. 2003; 30(8):795-803. DOI: 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2003.09.002. View