Change in positron emission tomography perfusion imaging quality with a data-driven motion correction algorithm

Introduction: Cardiac motion frequently reduces the interpretability of PET images. This study utilized a prototype data-driven motion correction (DDMC) algorithm to generate corrected images and compare DDMC images with non-corrected images (NMC) to evaluate image quality and change of perfusion defect size and severity.

Methods: Rest and stress images with NMC and DDMC from 40 consecutive patients with motion were rated by 2 blinded investigators on a 4-point visual ordinal scale (0: minimal motion; 1: mild motion; 2: moderate motion; 3: severe motion/uninterpretable). Motion was also quantified using Dwell Fraction, which is the fraction of time the motion vector shows the heart to be within 6 mm of the corrected position and was derived from listmode data of NMC images.

Results: Minimal motion was seen in 15% of patients, while 40%, 30%, and 15% of patients had mild moderate and severe motion, respectively. All corrected images showed an improvement in quality and were interpretable after processing. This was confirmed by a significant correlation (Spearman's correlation coefficient 0.626, P < .001) between machine measurement of motion quantification and physician interpretation.

Conclusion: The novel DDMC algorithm improved quality of cardiac PET images with motion. Correlation between machine measurement of motion quantification and physician interpretation was significant.