TY - JOUR
T1 - Practical setting and potential applications of interventions guided by PET/MRI
AU - Reich, Cristopher M.
AU - Sattler, Bernhard
AU - Jochimen, Thies H.
AU - Unger, Michael
AU - Melzer, Leon
AU - Landgraf, Lisa
AU - Barthel, Henryk
AU - Sabri, Osama
AU - Melzer, Andreas
N1 - The PET/MRI System at the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the University Hospital Leipzig was funded within a Major Devices Initiative of the German research council (Grant code SA 669/9-1). Parts of the project on which this report is based on was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research under the funding code 13GW0365C. The responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors.
PY - 2021/3/8
Y1 - 2021/3/8
N2 - Multimodality imaging has emerged from a vision thirty years ago to routine clinical use today. Positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is still relatively new in this arena and particularly suitable for clinical research and technical development. PET/MRI-guidance for interventions opens up opportunities for novel treatments but at the same time demands certain technical and organizational requirements to be fulfilled. In this work, we aimed to demonstrate a practical setting and potential application of PET/MRI guidance of interventional procedures. The superior quantitative physiologic information of PET, the various unique imaging characteristics of MRI, and the reduced radiation exposure are the most relevant advantages of this technique. As a noninvasive interventional tool, focused ultrasound (FUS) ablation of tumor cells would benefit from PET/MRI for diagnostics, treatment planning and intervention. Yet, technical limitations might impeed preclinical research, given that PET/MRI sites are per se not designed as interventional suites. Nonetheless, several approaches have been offered in the past years to upgrade MRI suites for interventional purposes. Taking advantage of state of the art and easy-to-use technology it is possible to create a supporting infrastructure that is suitable for broad preclinical adaption. Several aspects are to be addressed, including remote control of the imaging system, display of the imaging results, communication technology, and implementation of additional devices such as a FUS platform and an MR-compatible robotic system for positioning of the FUS equipment. Feasibility could be demostrated with an examplary experimental setup for interventional PET/MRI. Most PET/MRI sites could allow for interventions with just a few add-ons and modifications, such as comunication, in room image display and sytems control. By unlocking this feature, and driving preclinical research in interventional PET/MRI, translation of the protocol and methodology into clinical settings seems feasible.
AB - Multimodality imaging has emerged from a vision thirty years ago to routine clinical use today. Positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is still relatively new in this arena and particularly suitable for clinical research and technical development. PET/MRI-guidance for interventions opens up opportunities for novel treatments but at the same time demands certain technical and organizational requirements to be fulfilled. In this work, we aimed to demonstrate a practical setting and potential application of PET/MRI guidance of interventional procedures. The superior quantitative physiologic information of PET, the various unique imaging characteristics of MRI, and the reduced radiation exposure are the most relevant advantages of this technique. As a noninvasive interventional tool, focused ultrasound (FUS) ablation of tumor cells would benefit from PET/MRI for diagnostics, treatment planning and intervention. Yet, technical limitations might impeed preclinical research, given that PET/MRI sites are per se not designed as interventional suites. Nonetheless, several approaches have been offered in the past years to upgrade MRI suites for interventional purposes. Taking advantage of state of the art and easy-to-use technology it is possible to create a supporting infrastructure that is suitable for broad preclinical adaption. Several aspects are to be addressed, including remote control of the imaging system, display of the imaging results, communication technology, and implementation of additional devices such as a FUS platform and an MR-compatible robotic system for positioning of the FUS equipment. Feasibility could be demostrated with an examplary experimental setup for interventional PET/MRI. Most PET/MRI sites could allow for interventions with just a few add-ons and modifications, such as comunication, in room image display and sytems control. By unlocking this feature, and driving preclinical research in interventional PET/MRI, translation of the protocol and methodology into clinical settings seems feasible.
KW - Intervention
KW - Molecular imaging
KW - PET/MRI
KW - FUS
KW - High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation
KW - Positron-emission tomography
KW - Magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Methods
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102725208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.23736/S1824-4785.20.03293-8
DO - 10.23736/S1824-4785.20.03293-8
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33300750
SN - 1824-4785
VL - 65
SP - 43
EP - 50
JO - The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
JF - The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
IS - 1
ER -