Quantitative Clinical Nuclear Cardiology, Part 1: Established Applications.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) has attained widespread clinical acceptance as a standard of care for patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). A significant contribution to this success has been the use of computer techniques to provide objective quantitative assessment in the standardization of the interpretation of these studies. Software platforms have been developed as a pipeline to provide the quantitative algorithms researched, developed and validated to be clinically useful so diagnosticians everywhere can benefit from these tools. The goal of this CME article (PART 1) is to describe the many quantitative tools that are clinically established and more importantly how clinicians should use them routinely in the interpretation, clinical management and therapy guidance of patients with CAD.