Partial volume correction using structural-functional synergistic resolution recovery: comparison with geometric transfer matrix method

We validated the use of a novel image-based method for partial volume correction (PVC), structural-functional synergistic resolution recovery (SFS-RR) for the accurate quantification of dopamine synthesis capacity measured using [F-18]DOPA positron emission tomography. The bias and reliability of SFS-RR were compared with the geometric transfer matrix (GTM) method. Both methodologies were applied to the parametric maps of [F-18]DOPA utilization rates (k(i)(cer)). Validation was first performed by measuring repeatability on test-retest scans. The precision of the methodologies instead was quantified using simulated [F-18]DOPA images. The sensitivity to the misspecification of the full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of the scanner point-spread-function on both approaches was also assessed. In the in-vivo data, the k(i)(cer) was significantly increased by application of both PVC procedures while the reliability remained high (intraclass correlation coefficients >0.85). The variability was not significantly affected by either PVC approach (