Harmonization of 18F-FDG PET brain imaging based on ComBat method:a pilot study
Objective To perform harmonization based on the ComBat method for PET brain ima-ging scanned by different types of scanners from the same manufacturer and explored its effect on center effect.Methods The three-dimensional(3D)Hoffman brain model was scanned by two different PET/CT instruments(Siemens Biograph64 TruePoint and Biograph 128 mCT).Fourteen healthy subjects(8 males,6 females,age:(57.7±9.5)years)underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT on Siemens Biograph64 TruePoint and 12 healthy subjects(9 males,3 females,age:(55.8±10.5)years)underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT on Siemens Biograph128 mCT(all from Huashan Hospital,Fudan University;from November 2020 to March 2023).The whole brain was divided into 116 brain regions based on the anatomical automatic labeling(AAL)brain template.The ComBat method was applied to harmonized the PET data from brain model and healthy sub-jects.Mann-Whitney U test was performed on the radioactive counts and SUV ratios(SUVR)before and after homogenization acquired by both PET/CT instruments.Voxel-based statistical parametric mapping(SPM)independent-sample t test was also performed on data of healthy subjects.Results In 3D Hoffman brain model,radioactivity counts(5 590.33(4 961.67,6 102.95)vs 6 116.03(5 420.97,6 660.66);z=-9.35,P＜0.001)and SUVR(1.35(1.19,1.47)vs 1.37(1.21,1.49);z=-3.63,P＜0.001)were significantly different between the two PET/CT scanners before harmonization and not after harmonization(radioactivity counts:5 845.95(5 192.68,6 378.63)vs 5 859.17(5 193.84,6 380.52);SUVR:1.35(1.20,1.48)vs 1.36(1.20,1.49);both z=-0.68,both P=0.498).In the healthy subjects,radioactive counts in 19 brain regions(12 422.78(11 181.60,13 424.28)-18 166.40(15 882.80,18 666.27);z values:from-3.24 to-2.06,all P＜0.05)and SUVR in 40 brain regions(1.46(1.41,1.52)-2.28(2.16,2.36);z values:from-3.65 to-1.70,all P＜0.05)were significantly different between the two scanners before harmonization,while after homogenization there were no statistical differences for all 116 brain regions(radioactivity counts:9 243.55(8 502.38,9 854.87)-20 419.60(19 931.51,21 179.43);z values:from-0.72 to 0,all P＞0.05;SUVR:1.04(1.01,1.09)-2.32(2.24,2.40);z values:from-0.82 to 0,all P＞0.05).SPM showed that signifi-cant differences of glucose metabolism in the cerebral cortex,basal ganglia,midbrain and cerebellum were found in healthy subjects between the two PET/CT scanners before homogenization,and brain regions with obvious differences reduced after homogenization.Conclusion ComBat harmonization method is efficient at removing the center effect among different types of PET/CT scanners from the same manufacturer and may provide a simple and easy-to-implement homogenization for multicenter brain imaging studies.
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