PET/CT fusion goes interactive

Barco has put an interactive twist on the fusion of PET and CT data sets. The company demonstrated software at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting (June 7 to 10) that allows the user to blend data from CT and PET data sets to varying degrees, creating images that show more or less anatomic and functional data, at the user's discretion.

"This type of viewer allows them to bounce back and forth between the modalities," said Warren Gambella, Barco product logistics manager for advanced visualization.

Data are viewed onscreen in four windows, one showing the hotspots indicated by PET and the other three showing the fused PET and CT data in sagittal, coronal, and axial views. The window showing a PET-only view directs the user's attention to specific points of interest. The other three are tailored interactively by the user to show more or less of the functional or anatomic data as needed to make a diagnosis.

The diagnostician who is most familiar with CT might start with this data set and blend in the PET, Gambella said. Conversely, the PET specialist might begin with PET and blend in CT data.

"Looking at this strictly from a CT standpoint, identifying structural abnormalities and then bouncing on the fly over to the functional imaging allows them to have the best of both worlds," Gambella said.

The software features a 50-50 blend as a happy medium between the two. But an easy-to-use slider offers the means to custom-tailor the visualization to anyone's likings, he said.