Novel Quantification Protocol for Cardiovascular Calcification Progression Using Longitudinal MicroPET/MicroCT Images

This novel protocol entails the quantification of cardiovascular calcification from serial micro PET CT images in small research animals. Positron emission tomography and computed tomography serve as valuable research tools. They're frequently employed for the non-invasive assessment of cardiovascular calcification in vivo.

These imaging modalities are particularly advantageous for tracking vascular calcification in longitudinal studies involving small research animals. Conventional approaches for quantifying calcification use labor intensive manual delineation of regions of interest around visible calcified regions in every mouse at each time point throughout the longitudinal study. These methods reduce precision, particularly in the early disease stages when the sizes of calcification approach the scanners detection limits.

Our novel protocol presents a refined data analysis approach, integrating image alignment and ROI consistency to reduce the variability of data analysis between sequential images, thereby improving the validity of calcification assessment in longitudinal PET CT studies.