Metallic implants are known to generate bright and dark streaking artifacts in x-ray computed
tomography (CT) images, which in turn propagate to corresponding functional positron emission
tomography (PET) images during the CT-based attenuation correction procedure commonly
used on hybrid clinical PET/CT scanners. Therefore, visual artifacts and overestimation and/or
underestimation of the tracer uptake in regions adjacent to metallic implants are likely to occur and
as such, inaccurate quantification of the tracer uptake and potential erroneous clinical interpretation
of PET images is expected. Accurate quantification of PET data requires metal artifact reduction
(MAR) of the CT images prior to the application of the CT-based attenuation correction procedure.
In this review, the origins of metallic artifacts and their impact on clinical PET/CT imaging are
discussed. Moreover, a brief overview of proposed MAR methods and their advantages and
drawbacks is presented. Although most of the presented MAR methods are mainly developed for
diagnostic CT imaging, their potential application in PET/CT imaging is highlighted. The
challenges associated with comparative evaluation of these methods in a clinical environment in
the absence of a gold standard are also discussed. V
C 2012 American Association of Physicists in
Medicine.
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لینک دانلود
Metal artifact reduction strategies for improved attenuation correction in hybrid PET/CT imaging