Systematic Evaluation of Phantom Fluids for Simultaneous PET/MR Hybrid Imaging

Abstract

This study provides a systematic approach toward phantom fluid selection for imaging a given quality-standard body phantom--and phantoms of comparable size--at 3.0 T. For simultaneous PET/MR scans using the standard tracer (18)F-FDG, an alternative fluid to water and oil is proposed that serves as a viable option for both imaging modalities. Nevertheless, when water is preferred, ways to improve MR image homogeneity are presented. The tested alternative PET tracer enables the use of pure oil in combined scans, but the tracer composition needs to be optimized for phantom measurement applications.