Bangxian Wu1, Pek-Lan Khong, Tao Chan. 1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Room 406, Block K, Queen Mary Hospital, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has established values for imaging of head and neck cancers, including the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), utilizing both morphologic and functional information. In this paper, we introduce a computerized system for automatic detection of NPC, targeting both the primary tumor and regional nodal metastasis, on PET/CT. METHODS: Candidate lesions were extracted based on the features from both PET and CT images and a priori knowledge of anatomical features and subsequently classified by a support vector machine algorithm. The system was validated with 25 PET/CT examinations from 10 patients suffering from NPC. Lesions manually contoured by experienced radiologists were used as the gold standard. RESULTS: Results showed that the system successfully identified all 53 hypermetabolic lesions larger than 1 cm in size and excluded normal physiological uptake in brown fat, muscles, bone marrow, brain, and salivary glands. CONCLUSION: The system combined both imaging features and a priori clinical knowledge for classification between pathological and physiological uptake. Preliminary results showed that the system was highly accurate and promising for adoption in clinical use.
PURPOSE: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has established values for imaging of head and neck cancers, including the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), utilizing both morphologic and functional information. In this paper, we introduce a computerized system for automatic detection of NPC, targeting both the primary tumor and regional nodal metastasis, on PET/CT. METHODS: Candidate lesions were extracted based on the features from both PET and CT images and a priori knowledge of anatomical features and subsequently classified by a support vector machine algorithm. The system was validated with 25 PET/CT examinations from 10 patients suffering from NPC. Lesions manually contoured by experienced radiologists were used as the gold standard. RESULTS: Results showed that the system successfully identified all 53 hypermetabolic lesions larger than 1 cm in size and excluded normal physiological uptake in brown fat, muscles, bone marrow, brain, and salivary glands. CONCLUSION: The system combined both imaging features and a priori clinical knowledge for classification between pathological and physiological uptake. Preliminary results showed that the system was highly accurate and promising for adoption in clinical use.
Authors: J Aoki; H Watanabe; T Shinozaki; K Takagishi; H Ishijima; N Oya; N Sato; T Inoue; K Endo Journal: Radiology Date: 2001-06 Impact factor: 11.105
Authors: Dominic A X Schinagl; Paul N Span; Wim J Oyen; Johannes H A M Kaanders Journal: Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging Date: 2011-04-02 Impact factor: 9.236