Impact of motion correction on parametric images in PET neuroreceptor studies

In general, the calculation of parametric images in PET studies of neuroreceptors is based on dynamic data which have been recorded over many minutes. It is essential that the subject's head remains unmoved during the PET scan. Otherwise the data may become useless in the worst case. Although this problem is obvious, its impact on the parametric images has not been examined in detail. In the work presented here we study the degrading of parametric images caused by head movements and improvements which can be achieved by an appropriate motion correction.