PET/MR Imaging

This course has been approved for 3.5 Category A credits.
No discipline-specific Targeted CE credit is currently offered by this course.

Outline

1. Introduction
2. Instrumentation and Design of PET/MR Imaging
   1. Sequential
   2. Concurrent
3. Potential Clinical Applications of PET/MR Imaging
   1. Oncologic Disease
   2. Neurologic Disease
   3. Cardiovascular Disease
   4. Musculoskeletal Disease
4. PET/MR Image Segmentation and Global Disease Assessment
5. Challenges Relevant to PET/MR Imaging
6. Summary

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will:

1. identify the different methods through which PET/MR imaging can be performed
2. identify body regions where motion may interfere with PET/MR imaging
3. understand the various image registration methods that are available for PET/MR imaging
4. recognize the most straightforward approach to the design of a PET/MR imaging system
5. identify the factors that directly affect the spatial resolution of PET imaging
6. recognize the physical limitations of combining PET and MR imaging systems
7. understand the use of avalanche photodiodes in a combined PET/MR imaging system
8. identify the disadvantage of a PET/MR system that uses a split-field magnet system
9. recognize the crystals that are used by avalanche photodiodes in a PET/MR system
10. understand the limitations of avalanche photodiodes that prevent time-of-flight technology
11. understand the impact on image quality from adding PET detectors to an MR system
12. recognize the benefits of full integration of MR system components in a PET/MR system
13. identify the beneficial physical characteristics of silicon photomultiplier tubes
14. identify the beneficial performance characteristics of silicon photomultiplier tubes
15. understand the trend towards digital readout of PET data and signals
16. recognize the necessary capabilities of optimal PET detectors
17. identify the current hybrid imaging systems capable of concurrent, simultaneous imaging
18. name the attenuation map created from transmission source, CT or MR imaging
19. identify the imaging systems that use a rod or point source to create transmission images
20. understand the process for MR imaging-guided motion correction of PET data
21. differentiate between common image acquisition times for different disease processes
22. identify the body regions where MR is superior to CT for evaluating oncologic disease
23. identify the body regions where CT is superior to MR for evaluating oncologic disease
24. understand the advanced MR imaging techniques available for comparison with PET
25. recognize the benefit of combining PET/CT and MR imaging when evaluating lung cancer
26. understand the need for accurate alignment of structural and functional information
27. identify the MR technique capable of exquisite detail of the white matter bundles in the brain
28. understand the pitfalls of fractional anisotropic images computed from diffusion-tensor imaging
29. learn the imaging techniques capable of studying the effects of drug usage and withdrawal
30. understand the positive impact of gated MR imaging on PET quantification
31. know which PET radiotracers are FDA-approved
32. know which PET radiotracers are used for evaluation of blood flow
33. recognize the MR imaging techniques capable of attenuation correction information
34. identify the tissue types that can be distinguished by the Dixon sequence
35. indicate the organization responsible for establishing limits for exposure to magnetic fields
36. understand the superiority of automated image segmentation over manual segmentation
37. understand the capabilities of MR elastography
38. identify the advances in PET/MR that improve structural delineation and functional MR capabilities
39. identify the optimal pathway for PET/MR education and training
40. indicate the number of image data sets generated by PET/CT imaging