Accelerated PET kinetic maps estimation by analytic fitting method

Two alternative algorithms based on numeric calculations are considered and compared to the new proposal. We perform a simulation study aimed at (0 assessing agreement between the proposed method and other conventional ways of implementing compartmental model fitting, and (ii) quantifying the reduction in computational time required for convergence. It results in a speed-up factor of 120 when compared to a fully numeric version, or -38, with respect to a more conventional implementation, while converging to very similar values for the estimated model parameters.

In this work, we propose and test a new approach for non-linear kinetic parameters' estimation from dynamic PET data. A technique is discussed, to derive an analytical closed-form expression of the compartmental model used for kinetic parameters' evaluation, using an auxiliary parameter set, with the aim of reducing the computational burden and speeding up the fitting of these complex mathematical expressions to noisy TACs.