PETPVC: a toolbox for performing partial volume correction techniques in positron emission tomography

Authors

Benjamin A. Thomas, University College London, National University of SingaporeFollow
Vesna Cuplov, University College London
Alexandre B. Bousse, University College London
Adriana Mendes, University of Lisbon
Kris Thielemans, University College London
Brian F. Hutton, University College London, University of Wollongong
Kjell Erlandsson, University College London

RIS ID

110079

Publication Details

Thomas, B. A., Cuplov, V., Bousse, A., Mendes, A., Thielemans, K., Hutton, B. F. & Erlandsson, K. (2016). PETPVC: a toolbox for performing partial volume correction techniques in positron emission tomography. Physics in medicine & biology, 61 7975-7993.

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) images are degraded by a phenomenon known as the partial volume effect (PVE). Approaches have been developed to reduce PVEs, typically through the utilisation of structural information provided by other imaging modalities such as MRI or CT. These methods, known as partial volume correction (PVC) techniques, reduce PVEs by compensating for the effects of the scanner resolution, thereby improving the quantitative accuracy. The PETPVC toolbox described in this paper comprises a suite of methods, both classic and more recent approaches, for the purposes of applying PVC to PET data. Eight core PVC techniques are available. These core methods can be combined to create a total of 22 different PVC techniques. Simulated brain PET data are used to demonstrate the utility of toolbox in idealised conditions, the effects of applying PVC with mismatched point-spread function (PSF) estimates and the potential of novel hybrid PVC methods to improve the quantification of lesions