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Updated: May 11, 2026
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Continuous Blood Sampling in Small Animal Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Enables the Measurement of the Arterial Input Function
Published on: August 8, 2019
Construction and characterization of an arterial input function measurement system for dynamic PET
Lia Carroll1, Youstina Daoud1, Otman Sarrhini2
1Medical Physics Unit, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Summary
A new non-invasive detector, Radian-PET, accurately measures arterial input function (AIF) for dynamic PET scans. This technique bypasses invasive blood sampling, improving AIF acquisition for clinical applications.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Nuclear Medicine
- Radiation Detection
Background:
- Dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) is underutilized due to challenges in acquiring the arterial input function (AIF).
- Traditional AIF measurement requires invasive arterial blood sampling, which has limitations.
- Existing non-invasive methods for AIF acquisition also present drawbacks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present Radian-PET, a novel non-invasive radiation detector.
- To assess Radian-PET's capability for measuring the AIF non-invasively.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a detector with 64 scintillating fibers and a silicon photomultiplier array.
- Performed calibration using 68Ge rod sources and decay measurements with 18F samples.
- Conducted cross-validation against a microfluidic blood sampling detector using simulated AIFs (18F, 11C, 68Ga).
Main Results:
- Achieved a minimal detectable activity below 100 kBq/mL with a 1-second window.
- Measured 18F half-lives consistent with literature values.
- Demonstrated good agreement (R² > 0.96) in cross-validation measurements.
Conclusions:
- Radian-PET accurately measures clinically relevant activity concentrations.
- The detector can identify rapid activity changes essential for kinetic analysis.
- Future work will focus on enhancing detector efficiency and reducing noise.
