FACTOR ANALYSIS WITH PRIOR INFORMATION - APPLICATION TO DYNAMIC PET IMAGING

• Author / Creator

  Lee, Dong-Chang

• The conventional region-of-interest (ROI) method to evaluate dynamic Positron Emission Tomography (PET) images can be complex, time consuming, inaccurate (e.g. partial volume effect), and operator-dependent. To overcome these problems, an optimization-based factor analysis of dynamic structures (FADS) technique with prior information is proposed and validated using a computer-based simulation. The technique is then applied to eight sets of [11C]-Dihydratetrabenazine (DTBZ) dynamic PET volumes to decompose the datasets into factor volumes (FV's) that represent the striatum and the non-striatum tissues of the brain, and associated factor curves (FC's), describing the uptake and the clearance rates (activity per unit time) of the DTBZ radiopharmaceutical for the two tissue types. The extracted FV's and FC's are used for stratifying the healthy subjects from patients with early Parkinson's disease. In conclusion, the proposed FADS technique has the potential to significantly aid in the review process for evaluating dynamic datasets by clinicians.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Dynamic PET Imaging
  • Factor Analysis

• Graduation date

  Spring 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R36Q1B

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.