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Clinical Imaging of Microwave Mammography
Published on: November 14, 2025
Integrated PET/MR imaging: automatic attenuation correction of flexible RF coils
René Kartmann1, Daniel H Paulus, Harald Braun
1Institute of Medical Physics, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Henkestr. 91, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.
Medical Physics
|August 10, 2013
Summary
Flexible radiofrequency (RF) surface coils in PET/MR imaging cause significant PET data errors. An automatic algorithm accurately corrects these errors, improving quantitative accuracy in PET/MR scans.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Nuclear Medicine
- Radiophysics
Background:
- Flexible radiofrequency (RF) surface coils are essential for simultaneous PET/MR imaging.
- Their unknown position and geometry complicate PET attenuation correction (AC).
- Previous methods have not automatically incorporated RF coils into PET AC.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present and evaluate an algorithm for automatic RF surface coil positioning.
- To correct PET emission data for attenuation caused by RF surface coils.
- To reduce quantification errors in simultaneous PET/MR imaging.
Main Methods:
- Nonrigid registration of CT-based 3D attenuation templates of RF coils to MR images.
- B-spline landmark registration using marker positions to determine coil transformation parameters.
- Distinguishing multiple overlapping coils via different marker patterns.
- Evaluation using PET emission scans of phantoms and volunteer/patient data.
Main Results:
- RF coils caused up to 15.5% local underestimation of activity concentration.
- The algorithm reduced quantification errors to -3.9% to 4.3%.
- Coil positioning accuracy was approximately 3 mm in volunteer scans.
Conclusions:
- Flexible RF surface coils introduce significant local PET quantification errors.
- The developed automatic algorithm reliably reduces these errors.
- This method enhances the accuracy of simultaneous PET/MR imaging.
