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Reduced acquisition times in whole body bone scintigraphy using a noise-reducing Pixon®-algorithm-a qualitative
Oscar Ardenfors1, Ulrika Svanholm2, Hans Jacobsson3
1Department of Medical Physics, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, 17176, Sweden. oscar.ardenfors@karolinska.se.
EJNMMI Research
|September 18, 2015
Summary
Reducing scan-time for bone scintigraphy using Pixon processing offers sufficient clinical information but doesn't fully replace standard scan times. Further research into less aggressive scan-time reduction is recommended for optimal diagnostic quality.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear Medicine Diagnostics
- Medical Imaging Technology
- Image Processing Algorithms
Background:
- Reducing scan-time in nuclear medicine is crucial for patient comfort and throughput.
- Post-processing techniques, like Pixon® image processing, are explored to maintain image quality with shorter acquisition times.
- This study evaluates a specific Pixon-algorithm's efficacy in whole-body bone scintigraphy with halved scan duration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if Pixon-algorithm processed half-time bone scintigraphy yields comparable clinical information to full-time non-processed images.
- To determine the impact of patient Body Mass Index (BMI) on the Pixon-algorithm's performance.
- To compare lesion detectability, noise, and artifacts between standard and processed half-time scintigraphy.
Main Methods:
- Twenty patients underwent whole-body bone scintigraphy using both standard and half scan-time protocols.
- Half-time images were processed using Siemens' Pixon-based Enhanced Planar Processing software.
- Experienced nuclear medicine physicians evaluated anonymized images for lesion detectability, noise, and artifacts, considering patient BMI.
Main Results:
- 93% of processed half-time images and 98% of standard images were rated sufficient or good for lesion detectability.
- Processed half-time images were mostly rated 'sufficient' (65%), while standard images were mostly 'good' (83%).
- The Pixon-algorithm's performance was consistent across different patient BMIs, but standard images were rated superior in lesion detectability, noise, and artifact levels.
Conclusions:
- Pixon Enhanced Planar Processing partially compensates for reduced counts in half-time bone scintigraphy but does not fully replace full scan-time acquisition.
- Processed half-time images provide sufficient clinical information, irrespective of patient size.
- A less aggressive reduction in scan-time is advised to optimize diagnostic quality compared to the tested half-time protocol.
