Keywords:
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), polarized radiotracers, computed tomography (CT), multimodality imaging
A recently demonstrated imaging method combines MRI principles with nuclear medicine techniques to reconstruct a distribution of a polarized γ-ray emitting radioisotope. The resultant images achieve better spatial resolution than standard nuclear imaging and higher sensitivity than MRI. In this paper, we propose to acquire this form of MRI-modulated nuclear data for simultaneous image reconstruction in terms of both emission and transmission parameters, suggesting the potential for simultaneous CT-MRI-SPECT. The complementary information provides insight into tissue forms and molecular/cellular functions of features being imaged. Numerical simulation results of a lung phantom support the mathematical basis of our “SET” technique. Additional considerations are presented regarding the radiotracer characteristics and the imaging hardware.
- Lars Gjesteby
- the Biomedical Imaging Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
- Wenxiang Cong
- the Biomedical Imaging Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
- Ge Wang
- the Biomedical Imaging Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
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