Comparison of 3D OS-EM and 4D MAP-RBI-EM reconstruction algorithms for cardiac motion abnormality classification using a motion observer

Using a heart motion observer, we compared the performance of two image reconstruction techniques, a 3D OS-EM algorithm with post Butterworth spatial filtering and a 4D MAP-RBI-EM algorithm. The task was to classify gated myocardial perfusion (GMP) SPECT images of beating hearts with or without regional motion abnormalities. Noise-free simulated GMP SPECT projection data was generated from two 4D NCAT beating heart phantom models, one with normal motion and the other with a 50% motion defect in a pie-shaped wedge region-of-interest (ROI) in the anterior-lateral left ventricular wall. The projection data were scaled to clinical GMP SPECT count level before Poisson noise was simulated to generate 40 noise realizations. The noise-free and noisy projection data were reconstructed using the two reconstruction algorithms, parameters chosen to optimize the tradeoff between image bias and noise. As a motion observer, a 3D motion estimation method previously developed was applied to estimate the radial motion on the ROI from two adjacent gates. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were computed for radial motion magnitudes corresponding to each reconstruction technique. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated as an index for classification of regional motion. The reconstructed images with better bias and noise tradeoff were found to offer better classification for hearts with or without regional motion defects. The 3D cardiac motion estimation algorithm, serving as a heart motion observer, was better able to distinguish the abnormal from the normal regional motion in GMP SPECT images obtained from the 4D MAP-RBI-EM algorithm than from the 3D OS-EM algorithm with post Butterworth spatial filtering.