Reproducibility of the principal component analysis (PCA)‐based data‐driven respiratory gating on texture features in non‑small cell lung cancer patients with ¹⁸F‑FDG PET/CT

Abstract

Objective: Texture analysis is one of the lung cancer countermeasures in the field of radiomics. Even though image quality affects texture features, the reproducibility of principal component analysis (PCA)-based data-driven respiratory gating (DDG) on texture features remains poorly understood. Hence, this study aimed to clarify the reproducibility of PCA-based DDG on texture features in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Methods: Twenty patients with NSCLC who underwent 18 F-FDG PET/CT in routine clinical practice were retrospectively analyzed. Each patient's PET data were reconstructed in two PET groups of no gating (NG-PET) and PCAbased DDG gating (DDG-PET). Forty-six image features were analyzed using LIFEx software. Reproducibility was evaluated using Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (𝜌 c ) and percentage difference (%Diff). Non-reproducibility was defined as having unacceptable strength (𝜌 c < 0.8) and a %Diff of >10%. NG-PET and DDG-PET were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: A total of 3/46 (6.5%) image features had unacceptable strength, and 9/46 (19.6%) image features had a %Diff of >10%. Significant differences between the NG-PET and DDG-PET groups were confirmed in only 4/46 (8.7%) of the high %Diff image features. Conclusion:Although the DDG application affected several texture features, most image features had adequate reproducibility. PCA-based DDG-PET can be routinely used as interchangeable images for texture feature extraction from NSCLC patients. K E Y W O R D S18F-FDG, data-driven respiratory gating, image feature, non-small cell lung cancer, PET/CT, texture analysis, texture featureThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Impact of respiratory motion on 18F‐FDG PET radiomics stability: Clinical evaluation with a digital PET scanner

“…To date, several studies have reported the influence of motion on radiomic analysis. [16][17][18][19][20] However, the previous findings were contradictory. Additionally, the results of previous studies were mainly in terms of small patient groups (n < 30) 16,18,20 and in-house developed phantoms.…”

“…[16][17][18][19][20] However, the previous findings were contradictory. Additionally, the results of previous studies were mainly in terms of small patient groups (n < 30) 16,18,20 and in-house developed phantoms. 17,19 Our study examined the stability of 725 radiomic features based on 168 lesions derived from clinical patients (n = 101), complementing the findings of previously published research.…”

“…A possible explanation for this result is that we adopted both ICC and COV to evaluate radiomics with high stability. Conversely, Faist et al 18 reported that 131/141 (93%) features were not affected by respiratory movements, and Fuaki et al 20 demonstrated 39/46 (85%) image features had adequate reproducibility between non-gating and DDG PET based on clinical studies. The results of those studies might seem to contradict previous findings.…”

“…15 Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the variability in radiomic features for respiratory motion in 18 F-FDG PET images. [16][17][18][19][20] However, these studies were based on small patient groups 16,18,20 or phantoms 17,19 and showed contradictory results. Faist et al 18 and Fuaki et al 20 evaluated 141 and 46 features in 20 patients with lung cancer, respectively.…”

“…[16][17][18][19][20] However, these studies were based on small patient groups 16,18,20 or phantoms 17,19 and showed contradictory results. Faist et al 18 and Fuaki et al 20 evaluated 141 and 46 features in 20 patients with lung cancer, respectively. Both reported that most features (131/141 and 39/46) can be used interchangeably between nongating PET and DDG PET.…”