# Qualification and Harmonization of PET/MRI for Cancer Clinical Trials

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $545,338

## Abstract

Project Summary
One of the central limitations of PET/MRI is the lack of accurate means of attenuation correction, which
leads to inaccurate and inconsistent quantification of radiotracer uptake. The inconsistency of PET
quantification prevents the widespread adoption of PET/MRI in clinical trials, where a precise and
reproducible measurement of radiotracer uptake is required. We propose in this application to develop a
standard methodology to evaluate MR based attenuation correction techniques and the related PET
quantitation accuracy in order to qualify PET/MRI scanners for clinical trials and clinical work. This work
will be done in three specific aims. First, we will evaluate materials and create a physical phantom for
evaluation of MR based attenuation correction techniques. We will subsequently validate the phantom
using a patient study to demonstrate that we can accurately estimate deviations of measured activity
using the PET/MRI phantom. Finally, we will harmonize the reconstruction parameters on the two
available PET/MRI scanners and evaluate the reproducibility of the quantitative accuracy across 12 PET/
MRI sites split between the two PET/MRI manufacturers. Finally we will incorporate the PET/MRI
harmonization data into a global harmonization study that includes both PET/MRI and PET/CT. Through
the work described, we aim to create a standardized approach to evaluate the accuracy of PET
quantification in the setting of PET/MRI. A standardized methodology will incent vendors to develop
attenuation correction methods that result in more consistent uptake estimates across systems, and the
ability to qualify scanners will help the adoption of PET/MRI into clinical trials and clinical care.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9880425
- **Project number:** 5R01CA212148-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas A. Hope
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $545,338
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-03-06 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9880425

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9880425, Qualification and Harmonization of PET/MRI for Cancer Clinical Trials (5R01CA212148-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9880425. Licensed CC0.

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