Experimental phantom evaluation to identify robust positron emission tomography (PET) radiomic features

EJNMMI Physics

Luis Martí-Bonmatí¹  Dimos Baltas²  Tobias Fechter²  Montserrat Carles³  Michael Mix⁴ 

[1] Biomedical Imaging Research Group (GIBI230-PREBI) and Imaging La Fe node at Distributed Network for Biomedical Imaging (ReDIB) Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS), La Fe Health Research Institute, Av. Fernando Abril Martorell, 106, 46026, Valencia, Spain;Division of Medical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany;German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Partner Site Freiburg, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany;Division of Medical Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany;German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Partner Site Freiburg, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany;Biomedical Imaging Research Group (GIBI230-PREBI) and Imaging La Fe node at Distributed Network for Biomedical Imaging (ReDIB) Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS), La Fe Health Research Institute, Av. Fernando Abril Martorell, 106, 46026, Valencia, Spain;German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Partner Site Freiburg, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany;Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany;Department of Medical Imaging and Clinical Oncology, Nuclear Medicine Division, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa;

关键词: Radiomic features;    PET;    Robustness;    Phantoms;    Heterogeneity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40658-021-00390-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundRadiomics analysis usually involves, especially in multicenter and large hospital studies, different imaging protocols for acquisition, reconstruction, and processing of data. Differences in protocols can lead to differences in the quantification of the biomarker distribution, leading to radiomic feature variability. The aim of our study was to identify those radiomic features robust to the different degrading factors in positron emission tomography (PET) studies. We proposed the use of the standardized measurements of the European Association Research Ltd. (EARL) accreditation to retrospectively identify the radiomic features having low variability to the different systems and reconstruction protocols. In addition, we presented a reproducible procedure to identify PET radiomic features robust to PET/CT imaging metal artifacts. In 27 heterogeneous homemade phantoms for which ground truth was accurately defined by CT segmentation, we evaluated the segmentation accuracy and radiomic feature reliability given by the contrast-oriented algorithm (COA) and the 40% threshold PET segmentation. In the comparison of two data sets, robustness was defined by Wilcoxon rank tests, bias was quantified by Bland–Altman (BA) plot analysis, and strong correlations were identified by Spearman correlation test (r > 0.8 and p satisfied multiple test Bonferroni correction).ResultsForty-eight radiomic features were robust to system, 22 to resolution, 102 to metal artifacts, and 42 to different PET segmentation tools. Overall, only 4 radiomic features were simultaneously robust to all degrading factors. Although both segmentation approaches significantly underestimated the volume with respect to the ground truth, with relative deviations of −62 ± 36% for COA and −50 ± 44% for 40%, radiomic features derived from the ground truth were strongly correlated and/or robust to 98 radiomic features derived from COA and to 102 from 40%.ConclusionIn multicenter studies, we recommend the analysis of EARL accreditation measurements in order to retrospectively identify the robust PET radiomic features. Furthermore, 4 radiomic features (area under the curve of the cumulative SUV volume histogram, skewness, kurtosis, and gray-level variance derived from GLRLM after application of an equal probability quantization algorithm on the voxels within lesion) were robust to all degrading factors. In addition, the feasibility of 40% and COA segmentations for their use in radiomics analysis has been demonstrated.

【 授权许可】

CC BY