Objectives: Small field of view gamma detection and imaging technologies for monitoring in vivo tracer uptake are rapidly expanding and being introduced for bed-side imaging and image guided surgical procedures. The Hybrid Gamma Camera (HGC) has been developed to enhance the localization of targeted radiopharmaceuticals during surgical procedures; for example in sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and for bed-side imaging in procedures such as lacrimal drainage imaging and thyroid scanning. In this study, a prototype anthropomorphic head and neck phantom has been designed, constructed, and evaluated using representative modelled medical scenarios to study the capability of the HGC to detect SLNs and image small organs. Methods: An anthropomorphic head and neck phantom has been designed to mimic the adult head and neck including some internal organs and tissues of interest, such as the thyroid gland and sentinel lymph nodes. The design of the head and neck phantom included an adjustable inner jig holding the simulated SLNs and thyroid gland. The simulated thyroid gland was designed and 3D printed taking into consideration the size and the shape of a healthy adult thyroid gland. The inner sealed space of the thyroid was filled with 15MBq of 99mTc through two upper filling valves. Sealed micro-tubes (0.2ml) have been employed to simulate SLNs containing various 99mTc activity concentrations ranging between 0.1MBq and 1MBq, and can be positioned at any desired place in the head and neck region. An active background was simulated through mixing 10MBq of 99mTc solution with the water used to fill the outer shell of the head and neck phantom. Results: The head and neck phantom was employed to simulate a situation where there are four SLNs distributed at two different vertical levels and at two depths within the neck. Contrast to noise ratio (CNR) calculations were performed for the detected SLNs at an 80mm distance between both pinhole collimators (i.e. 0.5mm and 1.0mm diameters) and the surface of the head and neck phantom with a 100s acquisition time. The recorded CNR values for the simulated SLNs are higher when the HGC was fitted with the 1.0mm diameter pinhole collimator. For instance, the recorded CNR values for the superficially simulated SLN containing 0.1MBq of 99mTc using 0.5mm and 1.0mm diameter pinhole collimators are 6.48 and 16.42, respectively (~87% difference). The anatomical context provided by the hybrid imaging aided the localization process of radioactivity accumulation in simulated SLNs. Gamma and hybrid optical images were acquired using the HGC with both available pinhole collimators for the simulated thyroid gland. The thyroid images produced varied in terms of spatial resolution and detectability. The count profiles through the middle of the simulated thyroid gland images provided by both pinhole collimators were obtained. The HGC could clearly differentiate the individual peaks of both thyroid lobes in the gamma image produced by the 0.5mm pinhole collimator. In contrast, the recorded count profile for the acquired image using the 1.0mm diameter pinhole collimator showed broader peaks for both lobes, reflecting the degradation of the spatial resolution with increasing the diameter of the pinhole collimator. Conclusion: The capability of the HGC has been evaluated utilizing a prototype anthropomorphic head and neck phantom, and the gamma and hybrid images obtained demonstrate that it is ideally suited for intraoperative SLNs detection and small organ imaging. The standardization of test phantoms and protocols for SFOV portable gamma systems will provide an opportunity to collect data across various medical centers and research groups. Moreover, it will provide a technical baseline for researchers and clinical practitioners to consider when assessing their SFOV gamma imaging systems. The anthropomorphic head and neck phantom described is cost effective, reproducible, flexible and anatomically representative.
For two years, from January 1995 till December 1996, a survey on helminth parasites of aquatic birds of Bahr Al-Najaf depression, mid Iraq, was achieved. A total of 663 birds, belonging to 11 species, were captured and examined for helminth parasites. These birds were infected with seven trematodes (Notocotylus gibbus, Cyclocoelum mutabile, Echinostoma chloropodis, Patagifer parvispinosus, Psilochasmus oxyurus, Diplostomum spathaceum and Apharyngostrigea cornu), seven cestodes (Paricterotaenia porosa, Dicranotaenia tsengi, Diorchis brevis, D. inflatus, Tatria acanthorhyncha, T. decacantha and Diplophallus polymorphus) and four nematodes (Capillaria sp., Eustrongylides tubifex, Con
... Show MoreBackground: Breast cancer is the most common
malignancy affecting females worldwide. The association
of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with this cancer is a longstanding
interest to this field.
Aim: to investigate the presence of EBV in breast tumor
tissue in relation to age.
Patients and Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissue blocks
from 45 female patients with breast tumors (ranged in age
from 28 to 85 years) were retrieved. The cases were
grouped into two categories: group (A): included 30 cases
with breast carcinoma and group (B): included 15 cases
with benign breast diseases as a control group .The
expression of EBV protein was examined
immunohistochemically.
Results: Twelve (40%) of the 30 breast canc
Objectives: To study the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women and to find out the degree of
iron deficiency anemia and to find out any association this has been found between the socio- demographic
characteristics and the degree of iron deficiency anemia.
Methodology: A cross sectional study has been conducted in Ibn-Albaldy hospital in Baghdad among 258
pregnant women attending outpatient clinics during the period from the 1st of March 2011 to fifteenth of
October 2011. Data collection was by using a previously designed questionnaire including socio-demographic
characteristics, obstetrical history. A blood sample has been obtained to estimate the hemoglobin, mean
corpuscular volume, serum iron and
Problem of water scarcity is becoming common in many parts of the world. Thus to overcome this problem proper management of water and an efficient irrigation systems are needed. Irrigation with buried vertical ceramic pipe is known as a very effective in management of irrigation water. The two- dimensional transient flow of water from a buried vertical ceramic pipe through homogenous porous media is simulated numerically using the software HYDRUS/2D to predict empirical formulas that describe the predicted results accurately. Different values of pipe lengths and hydraulic conductivity were selected. In addition, different values of initial volumetric soil water content were assumed in this simulation a
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Three Spirurid nematodes: Amidostomoides acutum (Lundahl,1848) Seurat, 1918, Epomidiostomum uncinatum (Lundahl,1848) Seurat, 1918 and Tetrameres sp. Creplin,1846 were isolated from the stomach (provenrticulus and gizzard) of the shoveler Anas clypeata from central Iraq. A brief description, morphometric and meristic characters for the nematodes were provided.Incidence of the three nematodes discussed with pertinent literatures.
<p>Analyzing X-rays and computed tomography-scan (CT scan) images using a convolutional neural network (CNN) method is a very interesting subject, especially after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this paper, a study is made on 423 patients’ CT scan images from Al-Kadhimiya (Madenat Al Emammain Al Kadhmain) hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, to diagnose if they have COVID or not using CNN. The total data being tested has 15000 CT-scan images chosen in a specific way to give a correct diagnosis. The activation function used in this research is the wavelet function, which differs from CNN activation functions. The convolutional wavelet neural network (CWNN) model proposed in this paper is compared with regular convol
... Show MoreThis study examines the factors that affect oral participation of six Arab postgraduate students (two Iraqis, two Jordanians, and two Libyans), namely, three male participants and three female participants. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was employed. The results showed that female as well male interviewees share some factors that make oral participation in classroom disheartening. These factors include high levels of anxiety, lack of confidence, shyness, and lack of preparation. It was also that there is no difference between male and female interviewees in relation to the factors that make them feel disheartened from oral classroom participation.
The research aims to identify motivated to join the Evening Studies students to the College of Education at the University of Tikrit sections. In addition to knowledge of the differences in the degree of motivation of students according to gender, specialty, educational stage. To achieve the objectives of the research scholar us a measure consisting of (34) paragraph formulated positively, have been applied to a stratified random sample strength (500) students.
The results showed that the degree of motivation was very big on all areas of the college and class, reaching the percentage of response (84.3%), and professional motives came first prize as a percentage of (93.8%), in addition
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