Method for transforming CT images for attenuation correction in PET/CT imaging

A tube-voltage-dependent scheme is presented for transforming Hounsfield units (HU) measured by different computed tomography (CT) scanners at different x-ray tube voltages (kVp) to 511 keV linear attenuation values for attenuation correction in positron emission tomography (PET) data reconstruction. A Gammex 467 electron density CT phantom was imaged using a Siemens Sensation 16-slice CT, a Siemens Emotion 6-slice CT, a GE Lightspeed 16-slice CT, a Hitachi CXR 4-slice CT, and a Toshiba Aquilion 16-slice CT at kVp ranging from 80 to 140 kVp . All of these CT scanners are also available in combination with a PET scanner as a PET/CT tomograph. HU obtained for various reference tissue substitutes in the phantom were compared with the known linear attenuation values at 511 keV . The transformation, appropriate for lung, soft tissue, and bone, yields the function 9.6 × 10 − 5 ∙ ( HU + 1000 ) below a threshold of ∼ 50 HU and a ∙ ( HU + 1000 ) + b above the threshold, where a and b are fixed parameters that depend on the kVp setting. The use of the kVp-dependent scaling procedure leads to a significant improvement in reconstructed PET activity levels in phantom measurements, resolving errors of almost 40% otherwise seen for the case of dense bone phantoms at 80 kVp . Results are also presented for patient studies involving multiple CT scans at different kVp settings, which should all lead to the same 511 keV linear attenuation values. A linear fit to values obtained from 140 kVp CT images using the kVp-dependent scaling plotted as a function of the corresponding values obtained from 80 kVp CT images yielded y = 1.003 × − 0.001 with an R 2 value of 0.999, indicating that the same values are obtained to a high degree of accuracy.