Purpose: To investigate the optimal dual-time-point (DTP) approaches using dynamic 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT imaging to generate parametric images for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Methods: Fifteen prostate cancer patients were intravenously administered 68Ga-PSMA-11 of 181.9 ± 47.2 MBq, and immediately acquired a 60-min dynamic PET/CT scan. List-mode data were reconstructed into 25 time-frames: 6 × 10 s, 8 × 30 s, 11 × 300 s, and were corrected for motion and partial volume effect. The DTP parametric imaging was generated using different interval time points of 5 min and 10 min, separated by a minimum time interval of 30 min. Net influx rates (Ki) were calculated through the fitting of a single irreversible two-tissue compartmental model. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values between DTP protocols and 60-min Ki were calculated. Lesion-to-background ratios (LBRs) of Ki images and standardized uptake value (SUV) images in each DTP protocol were determined.
Results: The DTP protocol of 5-10 min with 40-45 min showed the highest ICC of 0.988 compared to the 60-min Ki whereas the ICC values for the 0-5 min with 55-60 min and 0-10 min with 50-60 min intervals were 0.941. The LBRs of 60-min Ki, 5-10 min with 40-45 min Ki, 0-5 min with 55-60 min Ki, 0-10 min with 50-60 min Ki, SUVmean, and SUVmax images were 29.53 ± 27.33, 13.05 ± 15.28, 45.15 ± 53.11, 45.52 ± 70.31, 19.77 ± 23.43, and 25.06 ± 30.07, respectively.
Conclusions: The optimal DTP parametric imaging achieves a comparable Ki to 60-min parametric imaging and exhibits remarkable image quality and contrast compared to SUV imaging, enhancing prostate cancer diagnosis while maintaining time efficiency.