Abstract: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracers such as D-[methyl-11C]-Deprenyl (DDE) and [11C]-GR205171 (GLD), methods for and methods of preparing biological mechanisms that identify treatment targets in connection with Whiplash-Associated Disorder (WAD) are provided. Associated kits for the evaluation of the biological mechanisms are also provided.

Abstract: In a method and system for outlining a region of interest in a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan study, a processor may, based on application of Masked Volume Wise Principal Component Analysis (MVW-PCA) to a plurality of scan images, generate a PC2 image showing kinetic behavior of a particular part of a subject, in particular, the grey matter of the cerebellar cortex of the subject, and may outline, in the PC2 image, a region of the PC2 image having highest pixel intensity values of the PC2 image or of a portion thereof as a region of interest, and, in particular, as a reference region. The processor may generate a PC3 image showing kinetic behavior of a different part of the subject, in particular, blood vessels of the subject, import the outline into the PC3 image to determine the correctness of the outline, and modify the outline if it is incorrect.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for improving the quality in positron emission tomography (PET) images. Image quality may be improved by pre-normalizing dynamic PET images and then applying a multivariate analysis tool on the images to generate improved quality dynamic PET images. The dynamic PET images are the images reconstructed from the raw dynamic PET data in the image domain of the PET study. A first normalization method is a data treatment (also referred to as noise pre-normalization) for the negative values that may result from the image reconstruction and/or from random variations in detector readings. A second normalization method is background noise pre-normalization where background pixel values are masked. A third normalization method is kinetic pre-normalization where the contrast is improved to allow greater visualization of the activity in the image. Multivariate analysis such as PCA may then be applied to each slice of the dynamic PET images.

Abstract: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracers such as D-[methyl-11C]-Deprenyl (DDE) and [11C]-GR205171 (GLD), methods for and methods of preparing biological mechanisms that identify treatment targets in connection with Whiplash-Associated Disorder (WAD) are provided. Associated kits for the evaluation of the biological mechanisms are also provided.