AbstractID: 12150 Title: AAPM initiatives in quantitative imaging
The Science Council (SC) of the AAPM has initiated the Quantitative Imaging (QI) Initiative,
which is an effort focused on moving the field of diagnostic imaging towards a more
quantitative footing. While much of the quantitative content of the radiologist report will be
generated by the radiologist with perhaps the help of user-friendly and robust software
capable of generating quantitative metrics off of a patient’s images, there is an important role
for physicists to play in assuring the quantitative integrity of the image data. The QI Initiative
currently has three task groups, on PET/CT, on dynamic contrast enhanced MRI, and on CT.
The methods and activity of these groups towards achieving their objectives will be
discussed. The activity of these three groups has overlap with similar efforts of other
societies such as the SNM, ISMRM, and the RSNA, and the interconnections will also be
described. The parallel, integrated efforts towards creating a more quantitative future for
medical imaging assessment is being driven by the needs of clinical research trials, as well
as other payer initiatives such as pay for performance. Long term, the QI Initiative will
include a comprehensive array of procedures to reduce variance in the imaging process, by
standardization of the acquisition protocols, calibration of the spatial and gray scale output of
scanners, incorporation of structured reporting tools to improve accuracy and format
consistency, and the development of scientific software capable of extracting accurate QI
data from image data.