Initial clinical experience of N13-ammonia myocardial perfusion PET/CT using a compact superconducting production system

Justin Pieper*, Vaiibhav N. Patel, Sylvia Escolero, Jacob R. Nelson, Alexis Poitrasson-Rivière, Christopher K. Shreves, Nick Freiburger, David Hubers, Jill Rothley, James R. Corbett, Joseph Oliverio, Edward P. Ficaro, Richard L. Weinberg, Venkatesh L. Murthy

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Although N13-ammonia has favorable properties among FDA approved radiotracers, complexity of implementation has limited its use. We describe the initial patient experience of N13-ammonia PET imaging using a compact N13-ammonia production system. Methods: N13 was produced using the ION-12SC, a 12MeV, 10uA superconducting minimally shielded cyclotron, and reduced to N13-ammonia in an automated multi-use purification unit. Patients were power injected with 9.3 ± 1.1 mCi (344.1 ± 40.7 MBq) of N13-ammonia for rest imaging, and 18.8 ± 0.9 mCi (695.6 ± 33.3 MBq) of N13-ammonia was injected at peak hyperemia for stress testing. Images were interpreted for relative perfusion, left ventricular volumes/function, blood flow quantification, and scored for image quality. Results: In total 97 patients underwent 98 N13-ammonia PET scans (32 rest only/65 rest-stress/1 stress only). Image quality was 91.8% good or excellent. None were poor/non-diagnostic. Study durations were acceptable. Tracer related radiation dosimetry to patients was 0.7 ± 0.1 mSv (rest only), and 2.1 ± 0.1 mSv (rest-stress). Conclusion: Clinical N13-ammonia production by the Ionetix ION-12SC delivers high quality myocardial PET perfusion images in a rapid protocol.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)295-299
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Nuclear Cardiology
Volume28
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2021

Funding

Justin Pieper, Vaiibhav N. Patel, Sylvia Escolero, Jacob R. Nelson, David Hubers, Jill Rothley, and Richard L. Weinberg have no disclosures or conflicts of interest related to this publication. Edward P. Ficaro and James R. Corbett have financial interest in INVIA Medical Imaging Solutions, which licenses the commercial software used for imaging processing. Alexis Poitrasson-Rivi\u00E8re is employed by INVIA. INVIA Medical Imaging Solutions did not provide direct support to this study. Joseph Oliverio, Christopher K. Shreves, and Nick Freiburger own stock options and are employed by Ionetix Corporation. Venkatesh L. Murthy has received consulting fees and stock options from Ionetix, Inc. owns stock in General Electric and Cardinal Health, has a research Grant from Siemens Medical Imaging, and has provided expert witness testimony on behalf of Jubilant Draximage. Venkatesh L. Murthy is supported by 1R01HL136685 from the National, Heart, Lung, Blood Institute and 1R01AG059729 from the National Institute on Aging. Justin Pieper, Vaiibhav N. Patel, Sylvia Escolero, Jacob R. Nelson, David Hubers, Jill Rothley, and Richard L. Weinberg have no disclosures or conflicts of interest related to this publication. Edward P. Ficaro and James R. Corbett have financial interest in INVIA Medical Imaging Solutions, which licenses the commercial software used for imaging processing. Alexis Poitrasson-Rivi\u00E8re is employed by INVIA. INVIA Medical Imaging Solutions did not provide direct support to this study. Joseph Oliverio, Christopher K. Shreves, and Nick Freiburger own stock options and are employed by Ionetix Corporation. Venkatesh L. Murthy has received consulting fees and stock options from Ionetix, Inc., owns stock in General Electric and Cardinal Health, has a research Grant from Siemens Medical Imaging, and has provided expert witness testimony on behalf of Jubilant Draximage. Venkatesh L. Murthy is supported by 1R01HL136685 from the National, Heart, Lung, Blood Institute and 1R01AG059729 from the National Institute on Aging.

Keywords

  • PET
  • instrumentation
  • perfusion imaging agents
  • tracer development

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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