TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimating the whole bone-marrow asset in humans by a computational approach to integrated PET/CT imaging
AU - Sambuceti, Gianmario
AU - Brignone, Massimo
AU - Marini, Cecilia
AU - Massollo, Michela
AU - Fiz, Francesco
AU - Morbelli, Silvia
AU - Buschiazzo, Ambra
AU - Campi, Cristina
AU - Piva, Roberta
AU - Massone, Anna Maria
AU - Piana, Michele
AU - Frassoni, Francesco
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Purpose Despite their relevance in clinical medicine, the extension and activity of the bone marrow (BM) cannot be directly evaluated in vivo. We propose a new method to estimate these variables by combining structural and functional maps provided by CT and PET. Methods BM extension and glucose uptake were estimated in 102 patients undergoing whole-body PET/CT because of a history of nonmetastatic melanoma. Image analysis assumed that the BM is surrounded by compact bone. An iterative optimization scheme was applied to each CT slice to identify the external border of the bone. To identify compact bone, the algorithm measured the average Hounsfield coefficient within a two-pixel ring located just inside the bone contour. All intraosseous pixels with an attenuation coefficient lower than this cut-off were flagged as 1, while the remaining pixels were set at 0. Binary masks created from all CT slices were thus applied to the PET data to determine the metabolic activity of the intraosseous volume (IBV). Results Estimated whole-body IBV was 1,632±587 cm3 and was higher in men than in women (2,004±498 cm3 vs. 1,203 ±354 cm3, P
AB - Purpose Despite their relevance in clinical medicine, the extension and activity of the bone marrow (BM) cannot be directly evaluated in vivo. We propose a new method to estimate these variables by combining structural and functional maps provided by CT and PET. Methods BM extension and glucose uptake were estimated in 102 patients undergoing whole-body PET/CT because of a history of nonmetastatic melanoma. Image analysis assumed that the BM is surrounded by compact bone. An iterative optimization scheme was applied to each CT slice to identify the external border of the bone. To identify compact bone, the algorithm measured the average Hounsfield coefficient within a two-pixel ring located just inside the bone contour. All intraosseous pixels with an attenuation coefficient lower than this cut-off were flagged as 1, while the remaining pixels were set at 0. Binary masks created from all CT slices were thus applied to the PET data to determine the metabolic activity of the intraosseous volume (IBV). Results Estimated whole-body IBV was 1,632±587 cm3 and was higher in men than in women (2,004±498 cm3 vs. 1,203 ±354 cm3, P
KW - Bone marrow imaging
KW - Image processing
KW - PET/CT
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U2 - 10.1007/s00259-012-2141-9
DO - 10.1007/s00259-012-2141-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 22639281
AN - SCOPUS:84865474262
VL - 39
SP - 1326
EP - 1338
JO - European Journal of Pediatrics
JF - European Journal of Pediatrics
SN - 0340-6199
IS - 8
ER -