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Modeling of Tracer Transport Delays for Improved Quantification of Regional Pulmonary 18F-FDG Kinetics, Vascular Transit Times, and Perfusion

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Abstract

18F-FDG-PET is increasingly used to assess pulmonary inflammatory cell activity. However, current models of pulmonary 18F-FDG kinetics do not account for delays in 18F-FDG transport between the plasma sampling site and the lungs. We developed a three-compartment model of 18F-FDG kinetics that includes a delay between the right heart and the local capillary blood pool, and used this model to estimate regional pulmonary perfusion. We acquired dynamic 18F-FDG scans in 12 mechanically ventilated sheep divided into control and lung injury groups (n = 6 each). The model was fit to tracer kinetics in three isogravitational regions-of-interest to estimate regional lung transport delays and regional perfusion. 13NN bolus infusion scans were acquired during a period of apnea to measure regional perfusion using an established reference method. The delayed input function model improved description of 18F-FDG kinetics (lower Akaike Information Criterion) in 98% of studied regions. Local transport delays ranged from 2.0 to 13.6 s, averaging 6.4 ± 2.9 s, and were highest in non-dependent regions. Estimates of regional perfusion derived from model parameters were highly correlated with perfusion measurements based on 13NN-PET (R 2 = 0.92, p < 0.001). By incorporating local vascular transports delays, this model of pulmonary 18F-FDG kinetics allows for simultaneous assessment of regional lung perfusion, transit times, and inflammation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants R01-HL121228 and R01-HL086827 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Two authors (T. Winkler and M. F. Vidal Melo) have a patent related to the computation of the image-derived input function used in the study.

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  1. Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Tyler J. Wellman, Tilo Winkler & Marcos F. Vidal Melo

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  1. Tyler J. Wellman
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  2. Tilo Winkler
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Correspondence to Marcos F. Vidal Melo.

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Associate Editor Merryn Tawhai oversaw the review of this article.

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Wellman, T.J., Winkler, T. & Vidal Melo, M.F. Modeling of Tracer Transport Delays for Improved Quantification of Regional Pulmonary 18F-FDG Kinetics, Vascular Transit Times, and Perfusion. Ann Biomed Eng 43, 2722–2734 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1327-2

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