Radiation Protection in Newer Medical Imaging Techniques : PET/CT
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Nuclear Energy in Everyday Life Nuclear Energy in Everyday Life
Nuclear Energy in Everyday Life Nuclear Energy in Everyday Life Understanding Radioactivity and Radiation in our Everyday Lives Radioactivity is part of our earth – it has existed all along. Naturally occurring radio- active materials are present in the earth’s crust, the floors and walls of our homes, schools, and offices and in the food we eat and drink. Our own bodies- muscles, bones and tissues, contain naturally occurring radioactive elements. Man has always been exposed to natural radiation arising from earth as well as from outside. Most people, upon hearing the word radioactivity, think only about some- thing harmful or even deadly; especially events such as the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, or the Chernobyl Disaster of 1986. However, upon understanding radiation, people will learn to appreciate that radia- tion has peaceful and beneficial applications to our everyday lives. What are atoms? Knowledge of atoms is essential to understanding the origins of radiation, and the impact it could have on the human body and the environment around us. All materi- als in the universe are composed of combination of basic substances called chemical elements. There are 92 different chemical elements in nature. The smallest particles, into which an element can be divided without losing its properties, are called atoms, which are unique to a particular element. An atom consists of two main parts namely a nu- cleus with a circling electron cloud. The nucleus consists of subatomic particles called protons and neutrons. Atoms vary in size from the simple hydro- gen atom, which has one proton and one electron, to large atoms such as uranium, which has 92 pro- tons, 92 electrons. -
Having an Aortic Arch-Angiogram
Information for patients Having an Aortic Arch-Angiogram Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Other names: Aortic arch-angiogram, arch-angiogram, arch-aortogram. You have been given this leaflet because you need a procedure known as an Aortic Arch-Angiogram. This leaflet explains more about Aortic Arch-Angiograms, and answers some of the most frequently asked questions. If, after reading this leaflet, you have any questions or concerns, you should write them down and discuss them at your next appointment with the consultant, doctor or specialist nurse. It is important that you understand the procedure, along with the potential benefits and risks before you agree to it. Where will my hospital appointments take place? This will depend on which specialist doctor you are seen by. You could be seen by a Neurologist, a Stroke Physician, a Vascular Surgeon or a Radiologist. Most of the appointments will be at either the Northern General or Royal Hallamshire Hospitals. However, you may also be seen at one of the outreach clinics at Rotherham or Barnsley District Hospitals. 2 What is an aortic arch-angiogram? An aortic arch-angiogram is an x-ray test that enables us to diagnose a problem (most commonly a narrowing or a blockage) in the arteries supplying your head, neck and arms. Arteries do not usually show up on x-rays, so the images are obtained by introducing a long, thin, flexible tube (a catheter) into an artery, usually at the top of your leg. Then, a special x-ray dye (contrast medium) is injected through it, into the circulation. The blood flow carries the dye along, highlighting the arteries, and x-ray pictures are taken. -
Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation
SOURCES, EFFECTS AND RISKS OF IONIZING RADIATION United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation UNSCEAR 2016 Report to the General Assembly, with Scientific Annexes UNITED NATIONS New York, 2017 NOTE The report of the Committee without its annexes appears as Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-first Session, Supplement No. 46 and corrigendum (A/71/46 and Corr.1). The report reproduced here includes the corrections of the corrigendum. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The country names used in this document are, in most cases, those that were in use at the time the data were collected or the text prepared. In other cases, however, the names have been updated, where this was possible and appropriate, to reflect political changes. UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. E.17.IX.1 ISBN: 978-92-1-142316-7 eISBN: 978-92-1-060002-6 © United Nations, January 2017. All rights reserved, worldwide. This publication has not been formally edited. Information on uniform resource locators and links to Internet sites contained in the present publication are provided for the convenience of the reader and are correct at the time of issue. The United Nations takes no responsibility for the continued accuracy of that information or for the content of any external website. -
Diagnostic Radiography Is the Production of High Quality Images for the Purpose of Diagnosis of Injury Or Disease
A Career in Medical Imaging What is Diagnostic Radiography / Medical Imaging? Diagnostic Radiography is the production of high quality images for the purpose of diagnosis of injury or disease. It is a pivotal aspect of medicine and a patient's diagnosis and ultimate treatment is often dependent on the images produced. Diagnostic Radiography uses both ionising and non-ionising radiation in the imaging process. The equipment used is at the high end of technology and computerisation within medicine. What does a Diagnostic Radiographer / Medical Imaging Technologist do? A Diagnostic Radiographer/Medical Imaging Technologist is a key member of the health care team. They are responsible for producing high quality medical images that assist medical specialists and practitioners to describe, diagnose, monitor and treat a patient’s injury or illness. Much of the medical equipment used to gain the images is highly technical and involves state of the art computerisation. A Diagnostic Radiographer/Medical Imaging Technologist needs to have the scientific and technological background to understand and use the equipment within a modern Radiology department as well as compassion and strong interpersonal skills. They need to be able to demonstrate care and understanding and have a genuine interest in a patient's welfare. The Diagnostic Radiographer/Medical Imaging Technologist will also need to be able to explain to the patient the need for the preparation and post examination care as well as the procedure to be undertaken. The Diagnostic Radiographer/Medical Imaging Technologist is able to work in a highly advanced technical profession that requires excellent people skills. It is an exciting and rewarding profession to embark on and great opportunities await the graduate. -
The Role of the GI Radiographer: a UK Perspective Nightingale, J and Hogg, P
The role of the GI radiographer: A UK perspective Nightingale, J and Hogg, P Title The role of the GI radiographer: A UK perspective Authors Nightingale, J and Hogg, P Type Article URL This version is available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/12543/ Published Date 2007 USIR is a digital collection of the research output of the University of Salford. Where copyright permits, full text material held in the repository is made freely available online and can be read, downloaded and copied for non-commercial private study or research purposes. Please check the manuscript for any further copyright restrictions. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. ...................................................................................................... PEER REVIEW The Role of the GI Radiographer: A United Kingdom Perspective JULIE NIGHTINGALE, M.Sc. PETER HOGG, M.Phil. Context Since the 1990s radiographers in the United Kingdom have expanded their role in gastrointestinal (GI) radiology, first by performing double-contrast barium enema (DCBE) examinations independently and later by interpreting and reporting the results of these exams. Objective This article will trace the evolution of GI radiographers in the United Kingdom, evaluate their success and explore how the U.K. experience could apply to American radiologist assistants. Methods The authors surveyed the professional literature to determine the historical context in which GI radiographers emerged and assess how their performance on DCBE exams compares with radiologists’ performance. Results DCBE exams performed by GI radiographers have been shown to be efficient, cost effective and safe. In addition, GI radiographers have helped reduce waiting and turnaround times for DCBE exams. -
Mammography Services Quality Assurance: Baseline Standards for Latin America and the Caribbean
MAMMOGRAPHY SERVICES QUALITY ASSURANCE: BASELINE STANDARDS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN MAMMOGRAPHY SERVICES QUALITY ASSURANCE: BASELINE STANDARDS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Washington, D.C., 2016 Original versión in Spanish: Garantía de calidad de los servicios de mamografía; Normas básicas para América Latina y el Caribe ISBN: 978-92-75-31926-0 PAHO HQ Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data ********************************************************************************* Pan American Health Organization Mammography Services Quality Assurance: Baseline Standards for Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, D.C. : PAHO, 2016. 1. Mammography – standards. 2. Mammography – methods. 3. Human Resources. 4. Equipment and Supplies. 5. Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation. 6. Americas. I. Title. ISBN: 978-92-75-11926-6 (NLM Classification: WP 815) © Pan American Health Organization, 2016 All rights reserved. Publications of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) are available on the PAHO website (www.paho.org). Requests for permission to reproduce or translate PAHO publications should be addressed to the Publications Program through the PAHO website (www.paho.org/permissions). Publications of the Pan American Health Organization enjoy copyright protection in accordance with the provisions of Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights are reserved. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Pan American Health Organization concerning the status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. -
Your Computed Tomography (Ct) Examination
YOUR COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) EXAMINATION DIRECTORATE OF MEDICAL IMAGING INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS The Radiology Department The Radiology Department, X-ray or Imaging Department, is the facility in the hospital which carries out the radiological examination of patients, using a range of X-ray equipment, together with computed tomography (CT scan) as well as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The radiologists are doctors specially trained to interpret the results and carry out some of the more complex examinations. They are supported by radiographers who are highly trained to carry out many of the X-ray and other imaging procedures. What is a CT scan? A CT (Computed Tomography) scanner is a special X-ray machine which produces an image of a cross-section, or slice, of the body. The scanner consists of a ‘doughnut’ shaped structure, or gantry, about two feet thick, through which you pass on a couch. A narrow fan-shaped beam of X-rays is produced from inside the gantry, and rotates in a complete circle around you. The X-rays pass through your body and are detected by electronic sensors on the other side of the gantry. The information passes to a computer which then produces a picture of the internal structure of the body. The pictures are displayed on a TV screen and can be examined by the radiologist. It takes less than a second to produce each slice, which can vary in thickness from one millimetre to one centimetre. Depending on how much of the body is being scanned, it will be necessary to produce images of up to 30 or 40 slices, or even much higher numbers with some scanners. -
Positron Emission Tomography
Positron emission tomography A.M.J. Paans Department of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a method for measuring biochemical and physiological processes in vivo in a quantitative way by using radiopharmaceuticals labelled with positron emitting radionuclides such as 11C, 13N, 15O and 18F and by measuring the annihilation radiation using a coincidence technique. This includes also the measurement of the pharmacokinetics of labelled drugs and the measurement of the effects of drugs on metabolism. Also deviations of normal metabolism can be measured and insight into biological processes responsible for diseases can be obtained. At present the combined PET/CT scanner is the most frequently used scanner for whole-body scanning in the field of oncology. 1 Introduction The idea of in vivo measurement of biological and/or biochemical processes was already envisaged in the 1930s when the first artificially produced radionuclides of the biological important elements carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, which decay under emission of externally detectable radiation, were discovered with help of the then recently developed cyclotron. These radionuclides decay by pure positron emission and the annihilation of positron and electron results in two 511 keV γ-quanta under a relative angle of 180o which are measured in coincidence. This idea of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) could only be realized when the inorganic scintillation detectors for the detection of γ-radiation, the electronics for coincidence measurements, and the computer capacity for data acquisition and image reconstruction became available. For this reason the technical development of PET as a functional in vivo imaging discipline started approximately 30 years ago. -
Radiation and Your Patient: a Guide for Medical Practitioners
RADIATION AND YOUR PATIENT: A GUIDE FOR MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS A web module produced by Committee 3 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) What is the purpose of this document ? In the past 100 years, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy have evolved from the original crude practices to advanced techniques that form an essential tool for all branches and specialties of medicine. The inherent properties of ionising radiation provide many benefits but also may cause potential harm. In the practice of medicine, there must be a judgement made concerning the benefit/risk ratio. This requires not only knowledge of medicine but also of the radiation risks. This document is designed to provide basic information on radiation mechanisms, the dose from various medical radiation sources, the magnitude and type of risk, as well as answers to commonly asked questions (e.g radiation and pregnancy). As a matter of ease in reading, the text is in a question and answer format. Interventional cardiologists, radiologists, orthopaedic and vascular surgeons and others, who actually operate medical x-ray equipment or use radiation sources, should possess more information on proper technique and dose management than is contained here. However, this text may provide a useful starting point. The most common ionising radiations used in medicine are X, gamma, beta rays and electrons. Ionising radiation is only one part of the electromagnetic spectrum. There are numerous other radiations (e.g. visible light, infrared waves, high frequency and radiofrequency electromagnetic waves) that do not posses the ability to ionize atoms of the absorbing matter. -
New Discoveries in Radiation Science
cancers Editorial New Discoveries in Radiation Science Géza Sáfrány 1,*, Katalin Lumniczky 1 and Lorenzo Manti 2 1 Department Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, National Public Health Center, 1221 Budapest, Hungary; [email protected] 2 Department of Physics, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +36-309199218 This series of 16 articles (8 original articles and 8 reviews) was written by internation- ally recognized scientists attending the 44th Congress of the European Radiation Research Society (Pécs, Hungary). Ionizing radiation is an interesting agent because it is used to cure cancers and can also induce cancer. The effects of ionizing radiation at the organism level depend on the response of the cells. When radiation hits a cell, it might damage any cellular organelles and macromolecules. Unrepairable damage leads to cell death, while misrepaired alterations leave mutations in surviving cells. If the repair is errorless, normal cells will survive. However, in a small percentage of the seemingly healthy cells the number of spontaneous mutations will increase, which is a sign of radiation-induced genomic instability. Radiation-induced cell death is behind the development of acute radiation syndromes and the killing of tumorous and normal cells during radiation therapy. Radiation-induced mutations in surviving cells might lead to the induction of tumors. According to the central paradigm of radiation biology, the genetic material, that is the DNA, is the main cellular target of ionizing radiation. Many different types of damage are induced by radiation in the DNA, but the most deleterious effects arise from double strand breaks (DSBs). -
Detecting the Pulmonary Trunk in CT Scout Views Using Deep Learning Aydin Demircioğlu 1,3*, Magdalena Charis Stein2,3, Moon‑Sung Kim1, Henrike Geske1, Anton S
www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Detecting the pulmonary trunk in CT scout views using deep learning Aydin Demircioğlu 1,3*, Magdalena Charis Stein2,3, Moon‑Sung Kim1, Henrike Geske1, Anton S. Quinsten1, Sebastian Blex1, Lale Umutlu1 & Kai Nassenstein1 For CT pulmonary angiograms, a scout view obtained in anterior–posterior projection is usually used for planning. For bolus tracking the radiographer manually locates a position in the CT scout view where the pulmonary trunk will be visible in an axial CT pre‑scan. We automate the task of localizing the pulmonary trunk in CT scout views by deep learning methods. In 620 eligible CT scout views of 563 patients between March 2003 and February 2020 the region of the pulmonary trunk as well as an optimal slice (“reference standard”) for bolus tracking, in which the pulmonary trunk was clearly visible, was annotated and used to train a U‑Net predicting the region of the pulmonary trunk in the CT scout view. The networks’ performance was subsequently evaluated on 239 CT scout views from 213 patients and was compared with the annotations of three radiographers. The network was able to localize the region of the pulmonary trunk with high accuracy, yielding an accuracy of 97.5% of localizing a slice in the region of the pulmonary trunk on the validation cohort. On average, the selected position had a distance of 5.3 mm from the reference standard. Compared to radiographers, using a non‑inferiority test (one‑sided, paired Wilcoxon rank‑sum test) the network performed as well as each radiographer (P < 0.001 in all cases). -
Toxicological Profile for Plutonium
PLUTONIUM A-1 APPENDIX A. ATSDR MINIMAL RISK LEVELS AND WORKSHEETS The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) [42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.], as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) [Pub. L. 99– 499], requires that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) develop jointly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in order of priority, a list of hazardous substances most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL); prepare toxicological profiles for each substance included on the priority list of hazardous substances; and assure the initiation of a research program to fill identified data needs associated with the substances. The toxicological profiles include an examination, summary, and interpretation of available toxicological information and epidemiologic evaluations of a hazardous substance. During the development of toxicological profiles, Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) are derived when reliable and sufficient data exist to identify the target organ(s) of effect or the most sensitive health effect(s) for a specific duration for a given route of exposure. An MRL is an estimate of the daily human exposure to a hazardous substance that is likely to be without appreciable risk of adverse noncancer health effects over a specified duration of exposure. MRLs are based on noncancer health effects only and are not based on a consideration of cancer effects. These substance-specific estimates, which are intended to serve as screening levels, are used by ATSDR health assessors to identify contaminants and potential health effects that may be of concern at hazardous waste sites.