Motion correction of head movements in PET: realisation for routine usage

With the increase of scanner resolution head motion in PET brain studies becomes an increasingly serious limitation. Methods to correct for motion have been proposed. In this work the realisation of a motion tracking system in a PET environment and the motion correction of list mode data with the MAF method is presented. In a phantom study the method is validated and the loss in image quality is documented in a phantom with simulated movements. The relevance of motion correction for patient data above the level of system resolution is studied. In a real patient study we show the effect of motion and the applicability of the presented system.