A Method of Correlating and Merging Cerebral Morphology and Function by a Special Head Holder

Zusammenfassung

Ein spezielles Kopfhalterungssystem wird als Voraussetzung zur Erzeugung und korrelativen Verarbeitung topographisch identischer morphologischer und funktioneller Bilddaten vorgestellt. Es ist an die verschiedenen Modalitäten (MRI, PET, SPECT) adaptierbar und basiert auf einer kommerziellen thermoplastischen Kopfmaske. Eine erwärmte flexible Form dieses Thermoplasts wird dazu verwendet, eine individuelle Kopfmaske für alle Modalitäten zu formen. Damit wird eine Fixierung des Patienten während der Messungen gewährleistet. Diese Methode garantiert auch eine exakte Repositionierung und damit gleiche Schnittorientierung der rekonstruierten Bilder. Durch Fusion der Hirnaußenkonturen oder der korrespondierenden Tomogramme MRI vs. PET oder MRI vs. SPECT wurde die Genauigkeit getestet: Sie betrug transaxial: <2,0 mm und axial: <3,0 mm bei Patientenstudien mit MRI-Schichtdicke von 6,0 mm.

Summary

A method is introduced which records and correlates topographically identical morphological and functional image data by means of a special head holder system which is adaptable to different modalities (MRI, PET, SPECT). It is based on a commercially available thermoplastic headmask. A thermoplastic form is used to mold an individual headmask (time required: 7 min) for all modalities providing a fixation of the patient during acquisition. This method guarantees an exact repositioning and therefore the same slice orientation of the images. The in-plane correlation is performed by adapting standard offset parameters determined with a homogeneous head phantom. By fusion (merging) of the brain outline contours or images themselves the accuracy was tested in MRI vs. PET resp. SPECT (transaxial accuracy: <2.0 mm, axial: <3.0 mm in patients with MRI-slice thickness of 6.0 mm).

Schlüsselwörter:

Images registration - image fusion - MRT - PET - SPECT

Key words

Image registration - image fusion - MRT - PET - SPECT

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