TY - JOUR
T1 - Proposal for the standardisation of multi-centre trials in nuclear medicine imaging
T2 - Prerequisites for a European 123I-FP-CIT SPECT database
AU - Dickson, John Caddell
AU - Tossici-Bolt, Livia
AU - Sera, Terez
AU - De Nijs, Robin
AU - Booij, Jan
AU - Bagnara, Maria Claudia
AU - Seese, Anita
AU - Koulibaly, Pierre Malick
AU - Akdemir, Umit Ozgur
AU - Jonsson, Cathrine
AU - Koole, Michel
AU - Raith, Maria
AU - Lonsdale, Markus Nowak
AU - George, Jean
AU - Zito, Felicia
AU - Tatsch, Klaus
PY - 2012/1
Y1 - 2012/1
N2 - Purpose: Multi-centre trials are an important part of proving the efficacy of procedures, drugs and interventions. Imaging components in such trials are becoming increasingly common; however, without sufficient control measures the usefulness of these data can be compromised. This paper describes a framework for performing high-quality multi-centre trials with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), using a pan-European initiative to acquire a normal control dopamine transporter brain scan database as an example.Methods: A framework to produce high-quality and consistent SPECT imaging data was based on three key areas: quality assurance, the imaging protocol and system characterisation. Quality assurance was important to ensure that the quality of the equipment and local techniques was good and consistently high; system characterisation helped understand and where possible match the performance of the systems involved, whereas the imaging protocol was designed to allow a degree of flexibility to best match the characteristics of each imaging device. Results: A total of 24 cameras on 15 sites from 8 different manufacturers were evaluated for inclusion in our multicentre initiative. All results matched the required level of specification and each had their performance characterised. Differences in performance were found between different system types and cameras of the same type. Imaging protocols for each site were modified to match their individual characteristics to produce comparable high-quality SPECT images. Conclusion: A framework has been designed to produce high-quality data for multi-centre SPECT studies. This framework has been successfully applied to a pan-European initiative to acquire a healthy control dopamine transporter image database.
AB - Purpose: Multi-centre trials are an important part of proving the efficacy of procedures, drugs and interventions. Imaging components in such trials are becoming increasingly common; however, without sufficient control measures the usefulness of these data can be compromised. This paper describes a framework for performing high-quality multi-centre trials with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), using a pan-European initiative to acquire a normal control dopamine transporter brain scan database as an example.Methods: A framework to produce high-quality and consistent SPECT imaging data was based on three key areas: quality assurance, the imaging protocol and system characterisation. Quality assurance was important to ensure that the quality of the equipment and local techniques was good and consistently high; system characterisation helped understand and where possible match the performance of the systems involved, whereas the imaging protocol was designed to allow a degree of flexibility to best match the characteristics of each imaging device. Results: A total of 24 cameras on 15 sites from 8 different manufacturers were evaluated for inclusion in our multicentre initiative. All results matched the required level of specification and each had their performance characterised. Differences in performance were found between different system types and cameras of the same type. Imaging protocols for each site were modified to match their individual characteristics to produce comparable high-quality SPECT images. Conclusion: A framework has been designed to produce high-quality data for multi-centre SPECT studies. This framework has been successfully applied to a pan-European initiative to acquire a healthy control dopamine transporter image database.
KW - I-FP-CIT
KW - Dopamine transporter
KW - Multi-centre trials
KW - Normal database
KW - SPECT
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U2 - 10.1007/s00259-011-1884-z
DO - 10.1007/s00259-011-1884-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 22089660
AN - SCOPUS:84858720482
VL - 39
SP - 188
EP - 197
JO - European Journal of Pediatrics
JF - European Journal of Pediatrics
SN - 0340-6199
IS - 1
ER -