MR scan selection for PET attenuation correction

1. A method of attenuation correction for a positron emission tomography (PET) system, the method comprising:

obtaining PET scan data representative of a volume scanned by the PET system;

obtaining a plurality of magnetic resonance (MR) scan data sets representative of the volume, each MR scan data set being acquired in a respective time period during acquisition of the PET scan data by the PET system;

detecting, with a processor, motion of the volume that occurred during the acquisition of the PET scan data based on an assessment of the plurality of MR scan data sets, the PET scan data, or the plurality of MR scan data sets and the PET scan data;

determining, with the processor, attenuation correction data from the plurality of MR scan data sets based on the detected motion for alignment of the attenuation correction data and the PET scan data; and

correcting the PET scan data with the attenuation correction data;

wherein detecting the motion comprises:

calculating a similarity measurement between each pair of the plurality of MR scan data sets, and

comparing the respective calculated similarity measurements to identify a time period during which the motion occurred; and

wherein determining the attenuation correction data comprises:

selecting a pair of MR scan data sets of the plurality of MR scan data sets acquired outside of the identified time period, and

interpolating between the pair of MR scan data sets to determine the attenuation correction data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the attenuation correction data comprises selecting an MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets acquired outside of the identified time period.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the motion comprises calculating a similarity measurement for each MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

calculating the similarity measurement comprises calculating the similarity measurement for the respective MR scan data set relative to diagnostic MR scan data acquired during the acquisition of the PET scan data by the PET system; and

determining the attenuation correction data comprises selecting an MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets most aligned with the diagnostic MR scan data based on the calculated similarity measurements.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

calculating the similarity measurement comprises calculating the similarity measurement for the respective MR scan data set relative to the PET scan data; and

determining the attenuation correction data comprises selecting an MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets most aligned with the PET scan data based on the calculated similarity measurements.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein calculating the similarity measurement comprises computing a normalized mutual information (NMI) measurement.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the motion comprises partitioning the PET scan data into a plurality of PET data bins.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

detecting the motion comprises calculating, for each PET data bin, a similarity measurement based on the plurality of MR scan data sets; and

determining the attenuation correction data comprises selecting, for each PET data bin, an MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets based on the similarity measurement.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein selecting the MR scan data set comprises selecting, for each PET data bin, the MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets most aligned with the respective PET data bin based on the similarity measurement.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein each MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets is acquired via an MR scan sequence configured to support the attenuation correction of the PET scan data.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising initiating an alert to an operator of the PET system regarding the detected motion.

12. A data processing system for attenuation correction for a positron emission tomography (PET) system, the data processing system comprising:

a data store in which PET scan data representative of a volume scanned by the PET system is stored, and in which a plurality of magnetic resonance (MR) attenuation correction (MR-AC) scan data sets representative of the volume are stored, each MR-AC scan data set being acquired during acquisition of the PET scan data by the PET system when diagnostic MR scan data is not being acquired; and

a processor coupled to the data store and configured to detect motion of the volume that occurred during the acquisition of the PET scan data based on a spatial alignment assessment of the plurality of MR scan data sets, the PET scan data, or the plurality of MR scan data sets and the PET scan data;

wherein the processor is further configured to determine attenuation correction data from the plurality of MR scan data sets based on the detected motion for alignment of the attenuation correction data and the PET scan data;

wherein the processor is further configured to correct the PET scan data with the attenuation correction data,

wherein detecting the motion comprises:

calculating measurement between each pair of the plurality of MR scan data sets, and

comparing the respective calculated similarity measurements to identify a time period during which the motion occurred; and

wherein determining the attenuation correction data comprises:

selecting a pair of MR scan data sets of the plurality of MR scan data sets acquired outside of the identified time period; and

interpolating between the pair of MR scan data sets to determine the attenuation correction data.

13. The data processing system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a similarity measurement for each MR scan data set of the plurality of MR scan data sets.