Whole-Body PET Technology Cost-Effectively Enhances Image Resolution and Sensitivity

Washington University (St. Louis, MO) researchers have developed a technology called “augmented whole-body scanning via magnifying PET” (AWSM-PET) that has been shown to enhance the image resolution and system sensitivity of clinical whole-body PET/CT imaging. Presented at the 2023 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Annual Meeting, the cost-effective technology uses high resolution add-on detectors that simultaneously scan a patient during a standard whole-body PET scan.

“Whole-body PET/CT imaging is broadly used for cancer staging and restaging and to evaluate patients’ response to treatment interventions; however, its diagnostic accuracy is compromised when the lesions are very small or exhibit weak signals,” said Yuan-Chuan Tai, PhD, associate professor of radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “Our novel AWSM-PET prototype helps to tackle two of the key limitations in whole-body PET imaging: image resolution and overall system sensitivity.”

The AWSM-PET technology utilizes two high-resolution PET detectors that are placed outside of a scanner’s axial imaging field of view as an “outsert” device. The device simultaneously acquires high-resolution PET data as a patient undergoes whole-body PET, and customized firmware and software encode and jointly reconstruct the data. In the study, a cylindrical phantom with lesions ranging from 1.96 mm to 7.6 mm in diameter was imaged to test the AWSM- PET technology.

Results revealed a clear improvement in image resolution with the AWSM-PET device. The firmware and software were also validated to confirm the functionality of the prototype device.

“The additional high-resolution data from the AWSM-PET device can enhance the overall image resolution and reduce statistical noise,” noted Tai. “The potential improvement in diagnostic accuracy of clinical whole-body PET/CT may benefit cancer patients.”

A pilot human imaging trial is scheduled to start in the summer of 2023 at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. The trial will compare the diagnostic accuracy of the AWSM-PET technology against the standard FDG whole-body PET/CT.