MRI-guided quantification of SPECT-images of the basal ganglia: a phantom study

In this study, the authors present two methods for quantification of tracer uptake in a SPECT image, guided by a matched high-resolution structural MR image. The authors show preliminary results of both techniques, when applied for quantifying regional uptake in the different compartments of a phantom simulating the basal ganglia. These results indicate that the quantification method, which takes into account the blurring by the SPECT imaging device, promises to be more performant in the presence of background activity