SUV measurements are conducted on which type of images?

Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) measurements are primarily conducted on attenuation-corrected images. This is because attenuation correction removes the effects of tissue density and photon scattering, providing a more accurate representation of radiotracer uptake within the tissues being analyzed. Attenuation correction is essential to accurately quantify the activity of the radiotracer in a given volume of tissue, resulting in reliable SUV measurements.

When SUV is based on non-corrected images, the values can be misleading due to the variable effects that different tissues have on the detected signal, thereby affecting the precision of the quantitative analysis. Similarly, raw images do not incorporate any corrections for factors such as scatter or detector efficiency. Low dose images may not provide the necessary resolution or signal-to-noise ratio for reliable SUV calculations.

Thus, conducting SUV measurements solely on attenuation-corrected images ensures that the analysis is as accurate and reproducible as possible, leading to more valid clinical interpretations.