Digital Computers in Nuclear Medicine
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11 Digital Computers in Nuclear Medicine Digital computers were introduced in nuclear medicine practice in the mid- 1960s, but did not become an integral part in both imaging and nonimag- ing applications until the mid-1970s. In imaging modalities, the computers are used to quantitate the distribution of radiopharmaceuticals in an object both spatially and temporally. Both data acquisition and image processing in scintigraphy are accomplished by digital computers. In nonimaging appli- cations, patient scheduling, archiving, inventory of supplies, management of budget, record keeping, and health physics are just a few examples of what is accomplished with the help of digital computers. Computational capabil- ities have advanced tremendously over the years and are still evolving, and the utility of a computer is limited only by the limitations of hardware and software. Basics of a Computer The basic elements of a computer are a central processing unit (CPU), main memory, external storage and input/output (I/O) devices, which are con- nected to one another by pathways called buses. The main memory stores all program instructions and acquired data, while the CPU executes all instructions given in a program. External storage includes floppy disks, CD- ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and hard drives. I/O devices include peripherals such as keyboards, mouse, video monitors, and printers, whose functions are to communicate with the computer for input of the acquired data and output of the processed data. A typical setup of a computer is illustrated in Figure 11.1. The voltage signals, i.e., electrical pulses from a scintillation camera, are obtained in analog form and are digitized by the digital computers for further processing and storage. Digital computers operate with binary numbers using only two digits, 0 and 1, as opposed to 10 digits 0 to 9 in the decimal system. The basic unit of the binary system is a bit (binary digit) that is either 0 or 1. The binary numbers are expressed by placing 0’s and 139 140 11. Digital Computers in Nuclear Medicine Fig. 11.1. Basic components of a computer. 1’s in a row, e.g., 10101, which are equal to a sum of a series of powers of two, as opposed to decimal numbers that are expressed in powers of 10. Thus, the binary number 10101 is equal to the decimal number (1 × 24 + 0 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 1 × 20) = 21, which is given as 2 × 101 + 1 × 100 in the decimal system. The bits, 1 and 0, are represented by the “on” or “off” states of many tran- sistor components present in the computer memory. A two-bit number can be expressed in 22, or four, ways (00, 01, 10, 11) corresponding to decimal numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3; a three-bit number can be expressed in 23, or eight, ways (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111) corresponding to decimal numbers 0, 1,2,...7,and an n-bit number can be expressed in 2n ways corresponding to decimal numbers from 0 to 2n − 1. In computer nomenclature, a byte of memory is equal to eight bits that can store up to 28, i.e., 0 to 255, units of information. Similarly, a word of memory consists of 16 bits or two bytes and can store up to 216, i.e., 0 to 65,535, units of information. In newer com- puters, a word can consist of 32 or 64 bits, allowing more counts to be stored in memory. Central Processing Unit The CPU, also called the microprocessor, performs all control, logic, and arithmetic operations in a computer. A computer program is a set of sequential instructions for the computer to perform with essential data inserted whenever appropriate.The CPU retrieves the instructions and data Basics of a Computer 141 from memory storage, executes the instructions sequentially, and displays or stores the results in appropriate locations.Transfer of data from one loca- tion to another is performed by the CPU using buses, which are essentially a set of electrical connections. How fast a program is executed depends on the speed of the computer operation, which increases with the faster electrical components of the CPU.The efficiency of the computer operation is further increased by using parallel transfer of data (where many transfers are performed simultane- ously) rather than serial transfer (where only one transfer is carried out at a time). Computer Memory The memory of a computer is a section assigned for temporary storage of data during the operation of a program. The program instructions and processed data are all stored in the computer memory with the help of the CPU. When the CPU sends data to the memory, it writes the data into the memory. If the CPU retrieves data from the memory, it is then said to read the data from the memory.The memory can be of two types: random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). RAM has the advantage of both write and read capacity; however, the data stored in it is lost when the computer is shutoff or the electrical power is lost. With larger RAMs, computation time becomes shorter. On the other hand, data stored in ROMs such as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, etc. cannot be erased by electrical failure or computer shutoff. External Storage Devices Floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, and optical (laser) disks are varieties of external storage devices that are commonly used for storage of programs and data. Each of them has vari- able storage space. Hard drives are installed virtually in all computers for internal storage of the programs and data. Floppy disks are commonly used for storing data externally as backup copies, although in some applications programs and data can be stored for input into the computer for execution. While hard drives have the storage capacity of hundreds of gigabytes, floppy disks can only store up to a few megabytes and are getting out of use. Cur- rently, CD-ROMs are available with capacities of 650–700 megabytes and DVD-ROMs with 4.7–9 gigabytes. Magnetic tapes and laser optical disks have large storage space in compact form and can be utilized primarily for archiving of patient data that can be retrieved for future reference. Input/Output Devices Input/output (I/O) devices are essential for input of the initial data and for output of the processed data. Input and output of data are carried out by 142 11. Digital Computers in Nuclear Medicine the use of acquisition and video interfaces via serial or parallel buses. The keyboard and the mouse are the most common input devices used in com- puters, although joysticks, light pens, and trackballs are occasionally used as input devices. While the keyboard is essential for the input of alpha- numeric data such as patient identification, date, time, and operator’s name, the mouse and trackballs are used to select items from the menu. Light pens, a mouse, and touch screens are often used for the selection of regions of interest (ROI) in an image. Common output devices include display screens (video monitor) for texts, images or graphics, and printers for printing. Display screens normally have a capability of a gray scale or a color scale for comparison between the intensities or amplitudes of different regions of the image. Operation of a Computer A computer operates according to instructions provided by an operator. These instructions are given in the form of one or more programs. A col- lection of programs is called the software, which is developed by specialists according to the specific need for a project. The most essential program for the operation of a computer is the so-called operating system such as DOS (disk operating system), Windows 98, Unix, and Linux. The utility of this program is to facilitate communication between the computer and opera- tor’s instructions. The operating system transfers the program instructions from the input device to the memory, commands the CPU to carry out the specific instruction and returns the data to the output devices. Other utili- ties of this system include file transfer from one location to another, storing data in the external storage device, and display of the data. Data must be provided as input to the computer for processing, and in nuclear medicine they are available in the form of counts or voltage pulses obtained from scintigraphic studies. Data are processed according to instructions in the software program, and the processed data are then stored in computer memory or external storage spaces or displayed on video mon- itors. The time to complete a task by the computer depends on a number of factors such as the speed of the CPU, the size of the main memory, serial or parallel processing of data, and the data transfer rates of the I/O devices. The faster CPU, the larger size of memory and the parallel buses provide speedy computation. Digitization of Analog Data In nuclear medicine, signals from a gamma camera are acquired in analog form, which are digitized before storing and further processing by the com- puter. Conversion of analog signals to discrete digital values is performed by the so-called analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and the process is called digitization. Basics of a Computer 143 While analog signals are continuous in time, digital signals consist of a fixed number of bits produced by the ADC by sampling a selected number of time points in the analog signal. ADCs are available as 8-, 10-, 12-, or 16-bit depending on the number of bits they produce in the digital signal from the analog signal.