A Method of Correlating and Merging Cerebral Morphology and Function by a Special Head Holder

H.-J. Kaiser; O. Sabri; G. Wagenknecht; B. Lege; D. Hellwig; U. Büll

doi:10.1055/s-0038-1629706

Nuklearmedizin - NuclearMedicine, Table of Contents

Nuklearmedizin 1994; 33(03): 123-126
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1629706

Original Article

Schattauer GmbH

A Method of Correlating and Merging Cerebral Morphology and Function by a Special Head Holder

H.-J. Kaiser

¹From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, FRG

,

O. Sabri

¹From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, FRG

,

G. Wagenknecht

¹From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, FRG

,

B. Lege

¹From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, FRG

,

D. Hellwig

¹From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, FRG

,

U. Büll

¹From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, FRG

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Zusammenfassung

Ein spezielles Kopfhalterungssystem wird als Voraussetzung zur Erzeugung und korrelativen Verarbeitung topographisch identischer morphologischer und funktioneller Bilddaten vorgestellt. Es ist an die verschiedenen Modalitäten (MRI, PET, SPECT) adaptierbar und basiert auf einer kommerziellen thermoplastischen Kopfmaske. Eine erwärmte flexible Form dieses Thermoplasts wird dazu verwendet, eine individuelle Kopfmaske für alle Modalitäten zu formen. Damit wird eine Fixierung des Patienten während der Messungen gewährleistet. Diese Methode garantiert auch eine exakte Repositionierung und damit gleiche Schnittorientierung der rekonstruierten Bilder. Durch Fusion der Hirnaußenkonturen oder der korrespondierenden Tomogramme MRI vs. PET oder MRI vs. SPECT wurde die Genauigkeit getestet: Sie betrug transaxial: <2,0 mm und axial: <3,0 mm bei Patientenstudien mit MRI-Schichtdicke von 6,0 mm.

Summary

A method is introduced which records and correlates topographically identical morphological and functional image data by means of a special head holder system which is adaptable to different modalities (MRI, PET, SPECT). It is based on a commercially available thermoplastic headmask. A thermoplastic form is used to mold an individual headmask (time required: 7 min) for all modalities providing a fixation of the patient during acquisition. This method guarantees an exact repositioning and therefore the same slice orientation of the images. The in-plane correlation is performed by adapting standard offset parameters determined with a homogeneous head phantom. By fusion (merging) of the brain outline contours or images themselves the accuracy was tested in MRI vs. PET resp. SPECT (transaxial accuracy: <2.0 mm, axial: <3.0 mm in patients with MRI-slice thickness of 6.0 mm).

Schlüsselwörter:

Images registration - image fusion - MRT - PET - SPECT

Key words

Image registration - image fusion - MRT - PET - SPECT

Full Text

References

Literatur
1 Bergstrom M, Boethius J, Erikson L. et al. Head fixation device for reproducible position alignment in transmission CT and positron emission tomography. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1981; 5: 136-41.
2 Bettinardi V, Scardaoni R, Gilardi MC. et al. Head holder for PET, CT, and MR studies. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1991; 15: 886-92.
3 Bohm C, Greitz T, Seitz R, Erickson L. Specification and selection of regions of interest (ROIs) in a computerized brain atlas. J Ce-reb Blood Flow Metab 1991; 11: A64-A68.
4 Chang LT. A method for attenuation correction in radionuclide computed tomography. IEEE Trans Nucl Sci 1978; NS-25: 638-43.
5 Evans AC, Beil C, Marett S, Thompson CJ, Hakim A. Anatomical-functional correlation using an adjustable MRI-based region of interest atlas with positron emission tomography. J Cerebr Blood Flow Metab 1988; 8: 513-30.
6 Fox PT, Perlmutter JS, Raichle ME. A stereotactic method of anatomical localization for positron emission tomography. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1985; 9: 141-53.
7 Friston KJ, Passingham RE, Nutt JG. et al. Localization in PET images: direct fitting of the intracommissural (AC-PC) line. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 1989; 9: 690-5.
8 Kaiser HJ, Sabri O, Wagenknecht G. et al. Exact correlation of cerebral morphology (MRI-T2-weighted) and function (SPECT-Tc-99m-HMPAO, PET-18-FDG) in cerebral microangiopathy by a special designed head holder. Eur J Nucl Med 1993; 20: A688.
9 Mazziotta JC, Phelps ME, Meadors AK. et al. Anatomical localization schemes for use in positron computed tomography using a specially designed headholder. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1982; 6: 848-53.
10 Mazziotta JC, Koslow SH. Assessment of goals and obstacles in data acquisition and analysis from emission tomography: report of a series of international workshops. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 1987; 7: S1-S31.
11 Pelizarri CA, Chen GTY, Spelbring DR, Weichselbaum RR, Chen C-T. Accurate three-dimensional registration of CT, PET, and/or MR images of the brain. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1989; 13: 20-6.
12 Pietrzyk U, Herholtz K, Heiss WD. Three-dimensional alignment of functional and morphological tomograms. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1990; 14: 51-9.
13 Schad LR, Boesecke R, Schlegel W. et al. Three dimensional image correlation of CT, MR, and PET studies in radiotherapy treatment planning of brain tumors. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1987; 11: 948-54.
14 Steinmetz H, Huang Y, Seitz RJ. et al. Individual integration of positron emission tomography and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 1992; 12: 919-26.
15 Talairach J, Szikla G, Tournoux P. et al. Atlas d’anatomie stéréotaxique du télencé-phale. Paris: Masson; 1967. pp 199-241.
16 Woods RP, Mazziotta JC, Cherry SR. MRI-PET registration with automated algorithm. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1993; 17: 536-46.