Evaluation of image enhancement software as a method of performing half-count bone scans

Krom, Aaron J; Wickham, Fred; Hall, Michael D.; McCool, D.; Burniston, Maria

doi:10.1097/mnm.0b013e32835afb45

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Previous studies employing Pixon-algorithms on planar images have shown promising results with improved image quality in 99m Tc nuclear medicine images supporting shorter acquisition times or lower administered activities in conjunction with the Pixon-algorithm [ 3 – 6 ]. These studies have either applied the algorithm to existing clinical full scan-time images, to clinical images with Gaussian noise added to simulate shorter acquisition times or to phantom studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced acquisition times in whole body bone scintigraphy using a noise-reducing Pixon®-algorithm—a qualitative evaluation study

et al. 2015

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BackgroundReducing scan-time while maintaining sufficient image quality is a common issue in nuclear medicine diagnostics. This matter can be addressed by different post-processing methods such as Pixon® image processing. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if a commercially available noise-reducing Pixon-algorithm applied on whole body bone scintigraphy acquired with half the standard scan-time could provide the same clinical information as full scan-time non-processed images.MethodsTwenty patients were administered with 500 MBq 99mTc-diphosphonate and scanned on a Siemens Symbia T16 system. Each patient was first imaged using a standard clinical protocol and subsequently imaged using a protocol with half the standard scan-time. Half-time images were processed using a commercially available software package, Enhanced Planar Processing, from Siemens. All images were anonymized and visually evaluated with regard to clinically relevant lesion detectability by three experienced nuclear medicine physicians. The result of this evaluation was grouped into four BMI intervals to investigate the performance of the algorithm with regard to different patient size. Also, a comparison study was performed where the physicians compared the standard image and the processed half-time image corresponding to the same patient with regard to lesion detectability, image noise, and artifacts.ResultsThe results showed that 93 % of the processed half-time images and 98 % of the standard images were rated as sufficient or good with regard to lesion detectability. The processed half-time images were predominately considered sufficient (65 %), whereas the majority of the standard images were graded as good (83 %). The performance of the algorithm was unaffected by patient size as the average grading of all half-time processed images was constant independent of patient BMI. The comparison study showed that the standard images were rated superior with regard to lesion detectability, image noise, and artifacts, in 32, 65, and 23 % of the evaluations, respectively.ConclusionsThe results indicate that the Pixon Enhanced Planar Processing does not fully compensate for the loss of counts associated with reducing the scan-time in half for whole body bone scintigraphies. The findings showed that implementing the Pixon-algorithm on images acquired with half the acquisition time in overall provide sufficient clinical information regardless of patient size. The half-time processed images were predominantly graded lower in comparison to images acquired with full time protocols, and a less aggressive reduction in scan-time is therefore recommended.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced acquisition times in whole body bone scintigraphy using a noise-reducing Pixon®-algorithm—a qualitative evaluation study

et al. 2015

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“…In previous studies [4,5], all the informed tumours analyzed had an intensity value greater than Q I .…”

Section: Peaks Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In [4,5] an objective metric U(background) was introduced for measuring the strength of 123 I-mIBG uptake at scans. This metric uses the mean and the standard deviation of the intensity of the whole-body scan to transform each pixel value into a normalized scale in order to minimize variation in measurements between different scans.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, existing techniques cannot be applied to the images used in this article, since generally they have intrinsic problems of low resolution, low contrast and low definition, asides from noise as an important factor in its deterioration [4,5]. The proposed method performs a preprocessing of the image, extracting numeric values, which highlights the zones with a high probability of containing a tumour or metastasis [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recognition of Abnormal Uptake through 123I-mIBG Scintigraphy Entropy for Paediatric Neuroblastoma Identification

Martínez-Díaz

Ruiz

et al. 2016

Entropy

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Whole-body 123 I-Metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) scintigraphy is used as primary image modality to visualize neuroblastoma tumours and metastases because it is the most sensitive and specific radioactive tracer in staging the disease and evaluating the response to treatment. However, especially in paediatric neuroblastoma, information from mIBG scans is difficult to extract because of acquisition difficulties that produce low definition images, with poor contours, resolution and contrast. These problems limit physician assessment. Current oncological guidelines are based on qualitative observer-dependant analysis. This makes comparing results taken at different moments of therapy, or in different institutions, difficult. In this paper, we present a computerized method that processes an image and calculates a quantitative measurement considered as its entropy, suitable for the identification of abnormal uptake regions, for which there is enough suspicion that they may be a tumour or metastatic site. This measurement can also be compared with future scintigraphies of the same patient. Over 46 scintigraphies of 22 anonymous patients were tested; the procedure identified 96.7% of regions of abnormal uptake and it showed a low overall false negative rate of 3.3%. This method provides assistance to physicians in diagnosing tumours and also allows the monitoring of patients' evolution.

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“…This is caused by a number of factors such as changes in the accumulation of radioisotopes during each examination, changes in the gamma camera, the volume of water intake, patient motion, the amount of urine excreted or the response to treatment. In addition, noise is also an important factor degrading scintigraphic images (Hannequin and Mas, 2002;Krom et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO ASSIST NEUROBLASTOMA ASSESSMENT BY MEASURING I-123 mIBG UPTAKE IN SCINTIGRAPHIC IMAGES

et al. 2015

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Whole-body 123 I-Metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) scintigraphy is used as the primary image modality in neuroblastoma detection. It is the most sensitive and specific method for staging and response evaluation. Validated semi-quantitative scoring methods with low interobserver variability and high reproducibility have shown to be indispensable for the evaluation of response to therapy. However, low resolution, noise and acquisition difficulties, specially in children, make low definition scans. These facts increase observer dependent interpretations that limit assessment and complicate to put a scoring method succesfully into practice. It is essential to have an objective and reliable measure of response to test the activity of therapies. In this paper we propose the use of a quantitative observer-independent measurement of the strength of uptake to be used as an additional tool for assisting the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Europe Neuroblastoma Group (SIOPEN) semi-quantitative scoring method. This is the scoring method recommended by the SIOPEN Nuclear Medicine and Physics Committee, in collaborative work with the Children's Oncology Group, as the standard one for acquiring and reporting diagnostic paediatric mIBG scans across Europe. Our proposed method is based on the ratio between the amount of specific uptake at tumours and the amount of non-specific uptake at SIOPEN anatomical sectors which has shown to be constant in all the scans of the patients.

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Evaluation of image enhancement software as a method of performing half-count bone scans

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Reduced acquisition times in whole body bone scintigraphy using a noise-reducing Pixon®-algorithm—a qualitative evaluation study

Reduced acquisition times in whole body bone scintigraphy using a noise-reducing Pixon®-algorithm—a qualitative evaluation study

Recognition of Abnormal Uptake through 123I-mIBG Scintigraphy Entropy for Paediatric Neuroblastoma Identification

QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO ASSIST NEUROBLASTOMA ASSESSMENT BY MEASURING I-123 mIBG UPTAKE IN SCINTIGRAPHIC IMAGES

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