Design and Evaluation of MeVisLab Networks for Co-Registration and Cropping of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Scans

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to design and evaluate two MeVisLab networks, one for co-registration of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) images and second for cropping the co-registered PET/CT images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two MeVisLab networks, one to co-register and export PET/CT DICOM images and second for cropping the co-registered PET/CT images were designed using different modules of registration toolkit MERIT. One hundred and twenty-five PET/CT studies were exported from Siemens and GE scanners in DICOM format. These images were co-registered and cropped with our designed networks. The images co-registered with our network were compared visually with the co-registered images of same PET/CT studies on vendor provided workstations by an experienced nuclear medicine physician (NMP). The perfection of the cropping of co-registered images was also assessed visually. RESULTS: Visually, NMP found all 125 images co-registered using the network designed in our study similar to the co-registered images of vendor provided workstations. Furthermore, the cropping of all co-registered images was perfectly done by our network. CONCLUSION: Two MeVisLab networks designed and evaluated in the present study can be used for co-registration of PET/CT DICOM images and cropping the co-registered PET/CT images.