Evaluation of the MRI compatibility of PET detectors modules for organ‐specific inserts in a 3T and 7T MRI scanner
Authors: Schmidt Fabian P. , Allen Magdelena S. , Ladebeck Ralf , Breuer Johannes , Judenhofer Martin , Schmand Matthias , Catana Ciprian , Pichler Bernd J. 
Published: December 2023

Background

Simultaneous positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners and inserts are valuable tools for accurate diagnosis, treatment planning, and monitoring due to their complementary information. However, the integration of a PET system into an MRI scanner presents technical challenges for a distortion‐free operation.

Purpose

We aim to develop a PET insert dedicated to breast imaging in combination with the 3T PET/MRI scanner Biograph mMR (Siemens Healthineers) as well as a brain PET insert for the 7T MRI scanner MAGNETOM Terra (Siemens Healthineers). For this development, we selected as a basis the C13500 series PET modules (Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) as they offer an all‐in‐one solution with a scalable, modular design for compact integration with state‐of‐the‐art performance. The original PET modules were not designed to be operated with an MRI scanner, therefore we implemented several modifications such as signal transmission via plastic optical fiber, radio frequency (RF) shielding of the front‐end electronics, and filter for the power supply lines. In this work, we evaluated the mutual MRI compatibility between the modified PET modules and the 3T and 7T MRI scanner.

Methods

We used a proof‐of‐concept setup with two detectors to comprehensively evaluate a potential distortion of the performance of the modified PET modules whilst exposing them to a variety of MR sequences up to the peak operation conditions of the Biograph mMR. A method using the periodicity of the sequences to identify distortions of the PET events in the phase of RF pulse transmission was introduced. Vice versa, the potential distortion of the Biograph mMR was evaluated by vendor proprietary MRI compatibility test sequences. Afterwards, these studies were extended to the MAGNETOM Terra.

Results

No distortions were introduced by gradient field switching (field strength up to 20 mT/m at a slew rate of 66.0 T/ms−1). However, RF pulse transmission induced a reduction of the single event rate from 33.0 kcounts/s to 32.0 kcounts/s and a degradation of the coincidence resolution time from 251 to 299 ps. Further, the proposed method revealed artifacts in the energy and timing histograms. Finally, by using the front‐end filters it was possible to prevent any RF pulse induced distortion of event rate, energy, or time stamps even for a 700° flip angle (45.5 μT) sequence.

The evaluations to assess potential distortions of the MRI scanner showed that carefully designed RF shielding boxes for the PET modules were required to prevent distortion of the RF spectra. The increase in B0 field inhomogeneity of 0.254 ppm and local changes of the B1 field of 12.5% introduced by the PET modules did not qualitatively affect the MR imaging with a spin echo and MPRAGE sequence for the Biograph mMR and the MAGNETOM Terra, respectively.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using a modified version of the PET modules in combination with 3T and 7T MRI scanners. Building upon the encouraging MRI compatibility results from our proof‐of‐concept detectors, we will proceed to develop PET inserts for breast and brain imaging using these modules.