Clinical investigation of Q. Flex for improvement of PET/CT image quality and quantitative accuracy of pulmonary nodules
10.3760/cma.j.cn321828-20221105-00334
- VernacularTitle:Q．Flex技术提高肺结节PET/CT图像质量和定量准确性的临床研究
- Author:
Dong DAI
1
;
Jianjing LIU
;
Di LU
;
Guoqing SUI
;
Yaya WANG
;
Xueyao LIU
;
Yuanfang YUE
;
Zhen YANG
;
Qing YANG
;
Jie FU
;
Wengui XU
;
Ziyang WANG
Author Information
1. 天津医科大学肿瘤医院分子影像与核医学诊疗科、国家恶性肿瘤临床医学研究中心、天津市恶性肿瘤临床医学研究中心、天津市肿瘤防治重点实验室，天津 300060
- Keywords:
Solitary pulmonary nodule;
Multiple pulmonary nodules;
Image processing, computer-assisted;
Positron-emission tomography;
Tomography, X-ray computed
- From:
Chinese Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
2024;44(2):98-103
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To compare the imaging quality and metabolic quantitative parameters of pulmonary nodules between Q. Flex whole information five-dimensional (5D) and conventional three-dimensional (3D) PET/CT imaging for clinical evaluation.Methods:Fifty-four patients (30 males, 24 females, age: 60(42, 75) years; 78 solid pulmonary nodules (maximum diameter≤3 cm) with abnormal uptake of 18F-FDG) from Tianjin Cancer Hospital Airport Hospital between June 2022 and August 2022 were enrolled in this retrospective study. All patients underwent 5D scanning and 3D, 5D reconstruction. Image quality scores, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), SUV max, SUV mean and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) of pulmonary nodules of 5D group and 3D group were evaluated and compared with χ2 test and Wilcoxon signed rank test. Correlation of quantitative parameters between 2 groups were analyzed by using Spearman rank correlation analysis. Results:Thirty-five of 78(45%) pulmonary nodules with image quality score≥4 were found in 5D group, which were more than those in 3D group (22/78(28%); χ2=4.67, P=0.031). Meanwhile, SNR, SUV max, SUV mean, and MTV were significantly positively correlated between the 2 groups ( rs values: 0.86, 0.86, 0.85, and 0.95, all P<0.001). SNR, SUV max and SUV mean of pulmonary nodules in 5D group were significantly higher than those in 3D group, which were 37.46(18.42, 62.00) vs 32.72(16.97, 54.76) ( z=-4.07, P<0.001), 9.71(5.48, 13.82) vs 8.96(4.82, 12.63) ( z=-3.05, P<0.001) and 6.30(3.39, 8.94) vs 5.61(2.99, 7.63)( z=-4.07, P<0.001) respectively. MTV of pulmonary nodules in 5D group was significantly lower than that in 3D group, which was 1.72(0.66, 2.74) cm 3vs 1.98(1.06, 4.63) cm 3 ( z=-7.13, P<0.001). Quantitative parameters of lower lung field and nodules with maximum diameters of >10 mm and ≤20 mm based on 5D scanning changed most significantly compared with those based on 3D scanning ( z values: from -5.23 to -2.48, all P<0.05). Conclusion:Q. Flex 5D PET significantly improves the quantitative accuracy of SUV and MTV of pulmonary nodules, and the improvement of image quality is substantial without increasing the radiation dose, which has clinical practical value.
