The development program for tissue attenuation correction of SPECT image by using CT image data in quantitative comparison

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop the Technetium Attenuation Correction for SPECT image
(TACS  ) software for improving the quality of SPECT image. The TACS   was corrected the attenuation of Technetium-99m in tissues using linear attenuation coefficients from CT image. TACS   was generated by MATLAB, and used iterative reconstruction of 100 iterations for the linear attenuation coefficient and attenuation correction. The SPECT and CT images used in software validation were performed in PET-CT Phantom^TM model PET/CT/P was scanned by hybrid SPECT/CT (Symbia T16, Siemens). Paired t-test statistics were analyzed for quantitative comparison of SPECT images between attenuation corrected using TACS , non-corrected and attenuation corrected using Syngo.via. The results showed that the quality of SPECT images after tissue attenuation correction were improved. The average of radiation count in region of interests of SPECT image using TACS  and using Syngo.via were increased approximately 6 times when compared with the non-corrected SPECT image. The uniformity index of SPECT image in ROI using TACS  was decreased to zero (p<0.001) when compared with non-corrected and attenuation corrected using Syngo.via. In addition, the contrast of SPECT image using TACS  was significantly lower compared with non-corrected and attenuation corrected using Syngo.via (p <0.001) due to increasing image artifacts from the reconstruction process. In conclusion, the TACS  can accurately attenuation correction in tissues of SPECT image. However, the software should be developing about functionalities before validated for clinic.