Synthetic CT generation from different MR contrast inputs and evaluation of its quantitative accuracy

MRI to synthetic CT image conversion is a problem of interest for clinical applications such as MR-radiation therapy planning, PET/MR attenuation correction, MR bone imaging. Many methods proposed for this purpose use different MR inputs. In this work, we compare the sCT generated from different 3D MR inputs, including Zero TE (ZTE), fast spin echo (CUBE), and fast spoiled gradient echo with Dixon-type fat-water separation (LAVA-Flex), using a multi-task deep learning (DL) model. We analyze the qualitative and quantitative accuracy of the generated sCT image from each input and highlight the aspects relevant for different clinical applications.