Artificial intelligence in Nuclear Medicine Physics and Imaging

Abstract

No one can deny the significant impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on everyday life, especially in the health sector where it has emerged as a crucial and beneficial tool in Nuclear Medicine (NM) and molecular imaging. The objective of this review is to provide a summary of the various applications of AI in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), with or without anatomical information (CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)). This review analyzes subsets of AI, such as machine learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL), and elaborates on their applications in NM imaging (NMI) physics, including the generation of attenuation maps, estimation of scattered events, depth of interaction (DOI), time of flight (TOF), NM image reconstruction (optimization of the reconstruction algorithm), and low dose imaging.