TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a dynamic myocardial perfusion phantom model for tracer kinetic measurements
AU - Kamphuis, Marije E.
AU - Kuipers, Henny
AU - Verschoor, Jacqueline
AU - van Hespen, Johannes C.G.
AU - Greuter, Marcel J.W.
AU - Slart, Riemer H.J.A.
AU - Slump, Cornelis H.
N1 - We would like to thank Lynn Frohwein from the European Institute for Molecular Imaging in Munster, Germany, for his contributions to phantom design. In addition, we acknowledge Sander Smits from the Robotics and Mechatronics department at the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands, for his assistance in phantom fabrication. Additional gratitude goes to the Nuclear Medicine department at the local hospital, Ziekenhuisgroep Twente, Hengelo, The Netherlands, for their hospitality and extensive support during phantom testing.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: Absolute myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is beneficial in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. However, validation and standardization of perfusion estimates across centers is needed to ensure safe and adequate integration into the clinical workflow. Physical myocardial perfusion models can contribute to this clinical need as these can provide ground-truth validation of perfusion estimates in a simplified, though controlled setup. This work presents the design and realization of such a myocardial perfusion phantom and highlights initial performance testing of the overall phantom setup using dynamic single photon emission computed tomography.Results: Due to anatomical and (patho-)physiological representation in the 3D printed myocardial perfusion phantom, we were able to acquire 22 dynamic MPI datasets in which 99mTc-labelled tracer kinetics was measured and analyzed using clinical MPI software. After phantom setup optimization, time activity curve analysis was executed for measurements with normal myocardial perfusion settings (1.5 mL/g/min) and with settings containing a regional or global perfusion deficit (0.8 mL/g/min). In these measurements, a specific amount of activated carbon was used to adsorb radiotracer in the simulated myocardial tissue. Such mimicking of myocardial tracer uptake and retention over time satisfactorily matched patient tracer kinetics. For normal perfusion levels, the absolute mean error between computed myocardial blood flow and ground-truth flow settings ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 mL/g/min.Conclusion: The presented myocardial perfusion phantom is a first step toward ground-truth validation of multimodal, absolute MPI applications in the clinical setting. Its dedicated and 3D printed design enables tracer kinetic measurement, including time activity curve and potentially compartmental myocardial blood flow analysis.
AB - Background: Absolute myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is beneficial in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. However, validation and standardization of perfusion estimates across centers is needed to ensure safe and adequate integration into the clinical workflow. Physical myocardial perfusion models can contribute to this clinical need as these can provide ground-truth validation of perfusion estimates in a simplified, though controlled setup. This work presents the design and realization of such a myocardial perfusion phantom and highlights initial performance testing of the overall phantom setup using dynamic single photon emission computed tomography.Results: Due to anatomical and (patho-)physiological representation in the 3D printed myocardial perfusion phantom, we were able to acquire 22 dynamic MPI datasets in which 99mTc-labelled tracer kinetics was measured and analyzed using clinical MPI software. After phantom setup optimization, time activity curve analysis was executed for measurements with normal myocardial perfusion settings (1.5 mL/g/min) and with settings containing a regional or global perfusion deficit (0.8 mL/g/min). In these measurements, a specific amount of activated carbon was used to adsorb radiotracer in the simulated myocardial tissue. Such mimicking of myocardial tracer uptake and retention over time satisfactorily matched patient tracer kinetics. For normal perfusion levels, the absolute mean error between computed myocardial blood flow and ground-truth flow settings ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 mL/g/min.Conclusion: The presented myocardial perfusion phantom is a first step toward ground-truth validation of multimodal, absolute MPI applications in the clinical setting. Its dedicated and 3D printed design enables tracer kinetic measurement, including time activity curve and potentially compartmental myocardial blood flow analysis.
KW - Ground truth
KW - Myocardium
KW - Perfusion
KW - Phantom model
KW - Quantitative imaging
KW - SPECT
KW - Tracer kinetics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128804170&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s40658-022-00458-y
DO - 10.1186/s40658-022-00458-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85128804170
SN - 2197-7364
VL - 9
JO - EJNMMI physics
JF - EJNMMI physics
IS - 1
M1 - 31
ER -
