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Nuklearmedizin 2005; 44(S 01): S13-S17
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1625209
Original Articles
Schattauer GmbH

Does PET/CT render software registration obsolete?

Wird Software-gestützte Bildregistrierung durch PET/CT überflüssig?
U. Pietrzyk
1   Institute of Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Brain Imaging Center West (BICW) and Department C – Physics, University of Wuppertal, Germany
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Eingegangen: 13 July 2005

in revised form: 12 September 2005

Publication Date:
11 January 2018 (online)

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Summary:

It was the success of software-based image registration that eventually led to the introduction of hardware-based concepts for image fusion, such as combined PET/CT tomographs. A prototype PET/CT was first presented in 1998, with various commercial designs to follow since 2000. PET/ CT is used primarily as a diagnostic modality in the field of extra-cerebral oncology imaging. The major advantage of combined imaging over retrospective software registration is the nearly identical position of the patient during both complementary examination, and therefore tomograms of identical parts of the body can be provided in spatially-corresponding slices. Despite the availability of hardware combinations of complementary imaging modalities software-based image registration, however, still inherits a major role in subsequent data processing, in particular when individual imaging modalities other than combined PET/CT are being used during patient workup. Furthermore, software is likely to become an important tool for the correction of residual motion-induced mis-registration within combined PET/CT data sets, and for follow-up studies involving, for example, CT, PET, and PET/CT. Therefore, flexible algorithms that utilize nonlinear interpolation schemes implemented on fast computer systems are needed, and will continue to contribute to successful image registration and fusion in clinical practice.

Zusammenfassung:

Es war der Erfolg der Software-gestützten Bildregistrierung, der schließlich zur Einführung Hardware-gestützter Konzepte zur Bildfusion, wie z.B. des PET/CT, geführt hat. Ein Prototyp PET/CT wurde erstmalig 1998 vorgestellt, wonach seit 2000 weitere verschiedene kommerzielle Varianten entstanden. PET/CT wird primär zur Diagnostik auf dem Gebiet der extrazerebralen onkologischen Bildgebung eingesetzt. Der wichtigste Vorteil der kombinierten Bildgebung gegenüber retrospektiver Software-basierter Registrierung liegt in der nahezu identischen Position des Patienten während beider, sich ergänzenden Untersuchungen. Dadurch sind Daten identischer Teile des Körpers in räumlich sich entsprechenden Schnittbilder verfügbar. Trotz der Verfügbarkeit Hardware-gestützter Kombinationen komplementärer Bild gebender Verfahren belegt die Software-gestützte Bildregistrierung weiterhin eine wichtige Rolle in der sich anschließenden Datenanalyse, insbesondere dann, wenn andere einzelnen Bild gebende Verfahren während anderer Untersuchungen des Patienten eingesetzt wurden. Ferner werden Software-Werkzeuge dann wichtig, wenn es darum geht, kleine, durch Bewegungen verursachte Fehlregistrierungen in den PET/CT Daten zu korrigieren und auch im Rahmen von Untersuchungen zur Verlaufskontrolle unter Einbezug von CT, PET und PET/CT. Flexible Algorithmen, die Ansätze der nicht-linearen Interpolation berücksichtigen und auf schnellen Computersystemen implementiert werden können, werden daher auch weiterhin zur erfolgreichen Bildregistrierung und Bildfusion besonders für die klinische Anwendung beitragen.

Key words:

PET/CT - multi-modality image registration - image fusion

Schlüsselwörter:

PET/CT - multimodale Bildregistrierung - Bildfusion
 

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