[Comparison of activity expression between PET using 68Ge-68Ga line source attenuation correction and PET-CT using CT...

CT data can be used for both anatomical image and attenuation correction (CTAC) of PET data in PET-CT scanners. The CTAC method is useful for attenuation correction, because the CT scan time is much shorter than the external radionuclide (e.g., (68)Ge) transmission scan time. However, the energy of the X-rays from CT is not monoenergetic and is much lower than that of the external radionuclide source. In this study, we evaluated the differences between emission PET images reconstructed with CT-based and (68)Ge-based attenuation correction.

CT scans and (68)Ge-Transmission scans were acquired and used for attenuation correction (CTAC, MAC, and SAC). The PET emission scan time was 4 min. CT scans were acquired at 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 mA. (68)Ge-Transmission scans were acquired at 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 300 min. The attenuation-corrected emission image using MAC on a 300 min transmission scan was defined as the reference image. Seven cylinders (30 mm diameter) were filled with (18)F-FDG placed in a heart-liver phantom with simulated pulmonary mass lesions. The PET value [counts/cc] was measured in circular regions of interest (ROI) over the cylindrical mass lesion. Averages [counts/cc], coefficients of variation [C.V.(%)], and ratios of difference [%Diff] from the reference value were calculated for all conditions.

In the CT-Transmission, analysis of variance revealed no significant effect of CT current on the average and the C.V. In the (68)Ge-Transmission, the average and the C.V. changed in dependence on the acquisition time. All %Diff using CT-Transmission were small. It was shown that CT-Transmission is more appropriate than (68)Ge-Transmission.