Motion compensated 4D PET-CT-MR image generation for respiratory synchronized multi-modal image display

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) image has been widely used for early detection of malignant lesion(s) and its treatment, because it can provide functional information. Since computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) images can provide high resolution anatomical information, their simultaneous display with PET image may improve the clinical value of PET-image-based applications. Meanwhile, temporal information regarding anatomical changes due to respiration may be important in the radiation therapy planning of a thoracic or abdominal region. To provide such important information, we propose a framework for motion compensated 4D PET-CT-MR image generation. To realize the framework, we present a MR-driven motion compensation algorithm for respiratory-gated 4D PET imaging. We then introduce a respiratory-synchronized multi-modal image generation method. We expect that the respiratory-synchronized multi-modal image display can be useful for clinicians to efficiently utilize the temporal information as well as the complementary spatial information in their applications.