Early Feasibility of Registration of Micro-PET/CT Scans to Annotated 3D Specimen Models - Report - MDSpire
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Initial Assessment of Integrating Micro-PET/CT Imaging with Annotated 3D Specimen Models

  • By

  • Joaquin Austerlitz

  • Andreja Radevic

  • Ashtyn McAdoo

  • Kyrionna Golliday

  • Cheng Ye

  • Daniel Fabbri

  • Adam J. Rosenberg

  • Marcus Balanky

  • Anas Alabkaa

  • Kim A. Ely

  • Mitra Mehrad

  • Spencer Roark

  • Eben Rosenthal

  • Michael C. Topf

  • June 16, 2026

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Clinical Report: Initial Assessment of Integrating Micro-PET/CT Imaging

Overview

This study evaluates the integration of micro-PET/CT imaging with 3D specimen models for assessing surgical margins in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Background

Surgical margin status is a key prognostic factor in HNSCC, with positive margins significantly increasing the risk of recurrence and mortality. Traditional methods like frozen section analysis, while widely used, are time-consuming and lack 3D spatial information. This study explores a novel method for intraoperative margin assessment.

Data Highlights

No numerical or trial data provided in the source material.

Key Findings

  • Micro-PET/CT imaging may serve as an adjunct to frozen section analysis for margin assessment.
  • Current frozen section analysis does not improve oncologic outcomes in HNSCC.
  • Only 55% of margin specimens are taken via a specimen-based approach.
  • Intraoperative micro-PET/CT imaging was performed using a high-resolution mobile scanner.
  • The study protocol has received Institutional Review Board approvals and is ongoing.

Clinical Implications

Further validation against histopathology is necessary to establish the clinical utility of integrating micro-PET/CT with 3D specimen models.

Conclusion

Further investigation is warranted to confirm the effectiveness of the methodology for enhancing margin assessment in HNSCC surgeries.

Related Resources & Content

  1. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Head and Neck Cancers, Version 2.2025 - PubMed
  2. Current Cancer Protocols - CAP
  3. Method for co-registration of high-resolution specimen PET-CT with histopathology to improve insight into radiotracer distributions | EJNMMI Physics | Springer Nature Link
  4. Early Feasibility of Registration of Micro‐PET/CT Scans to Annotated 3D Specimen Models - Austerlitz - Head & Neck - Wiley Online Library
  5. European Radiology — Creation and assessment of two open-source nnU-Net models for the automated segmentation of lung tumors in PET and CT scans, with and without compensation for respiratory motion
  6. European Radiology — Integrating Virtual Monoenergetic Imaging with Iterative Metal Artifact Reduction in First-Generation Photon-Counting CT for Patients with Dental Implants
  7. Surgical Endoscopy — Evaluation of Gantry-Free Hybrid hSPECT/LiDAR Imaging for Back-Table Specimen Scanning in PSMA-Radioguided Surgical Procedures
  8. Precision of Jaw Computer-Aided Design Models Generated from Ultra-Low MDCT Doses Utilizing ASIR and MBIR Techniques
  9. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Head and Neck Cancers, Version 2.2025 - PubMed
  10. Current Cancer Protocols - CAP
  11. Sponsored by
  12. [18F]FDG PET/CT: EANM procedure guidelines for tumour imaging: version 3.0 - ScienceDirect
  13. The SNMMI/ACNM Practice Guideline for the Use of Radiopharmaceuticals 5.0 - PubMed
  14. Impact of surgical margins on recurrence and survival rate in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC
  15. Utility of frozen section pathology in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis - ScienceDirect
  16. Method for co-registration of high-resolution specimen PET-CT with histopathology to improve insight into radiotracer distributions | EJNMMI Physics | Springer Nature Link
  17. Breast cancer Intraoperative Margin Assessment using specimen PET-CT (BIMAP) | npj Breast Cancer
  18. MarginView3D: A Novel Software Enabling Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Surgical Pathology Documentation for Improved Intra- and Postoperative Cancer Care | Annals of Surgical Oncology | Springer Nature Link
  19. Early Feasibility of Registration of Micro‐PET/CT Scans to Annotated 3D Specimen Models - Austerlitz - Head & Neck - Wiley Online Library

Original Source(s)

Early Feasibility of Registration of Micro-PET/CT Scans to Annotated 3D Specimen Models

  • by Joaquin Austerlitz, Andreja Radevic, Ashtyn McAdoo, Kyrionna Golliday, Cheng Ye, Daniel Fabbri, Adam J. Rosenberg, Marcus Balanky, Anas Alabkaa, Kim A. Ely, Mitra Mehrad, Spencer Roark, Eben Rosenthal, Michael C. Topf

  • June 16, 2026

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