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.
Composite materials are widely used in the engineered assets as aerospace structures, marine and air navigation owing to their high strength/weight ratios. Detection and identification of damage in the composite structures are considered as an important part of monitoring and repairing of structural systems during the service to avoid instantaneous failure. Effective cost and reliability are essential during the process of detecting. The Lamb wave method is an effective and sensitive technique to tiny damage and can be applied for structural health monitoring using low energy sensors; it can provide good information about the condition of the structure during its operation by analyzing the propagation of the wave in the
... Show MoreIn this work, an enhanced Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor using a sided polished structure for the detection of toxic ions Arsenic in water was designed and implemented. The SPR curve can be obtained by polishing the side of the PCF after coating the Au film on the side of the polished area, the SPR curve can be obtained. The proposed sensor has a clear SPR effect, according to the findings of the experiments. The estimated signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), sensitivity (S), resolution (R), and Figures of merit (FOM) are approaching; the SNR is 0.0125, S is 11.11 μm/RIU, the resolution is 1.8x〖10〗^(-4), and the FOM is 13.88 for Single-mode Fiber- Photonic Crystal Fiber- single mode Fiber (SMF-P
... Show MoreIn this work, solid random gain media were fabricated from laser dye solutions containing nanoparticles as scattering centers. Two different rhodamine dyes (123 and 6G) were used to host the highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles to form the random gain media. The spectroscopic characteristics (mainly fluorescence) of these media were determined and studied. These random gain media showed laser emission in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Fluorescence characteristics can be controlled to few nanometers by adjusting the characteristics of the host and nanoparticles as well as the preparation conditions of the samples. Emission of narrow linewidth (3nm) and high intensity in the visible region (533-537nm) was obtained.
Background: Determination of local bone mineral density (BMD) with cortical thickness and bone height may offer a comprehensive description of the bone the surgeon will encounter when he or she actually sets the implant. Quantitative computed tomography (CT) (i.e., quantitative interpretation of values derived from Hounsfield units with a suitable calibration procedure) is the modality of choice to determine BMD. The aim of the present clinical study is to determine the local bone density in dental implant recipient sites using computerized tomography. Material and method: The sample consisted of (72) Iraqi patients whom referred to Al-Kharkh General hospital, Spiral CT scan Department for bone quality and quantity assessment after one wee
... Show MoreBackground: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are said to be inherited in a multifactorial fashion, i.e. genetic-environmental interaction. Maternal nutritional deficiencies had long been reported to cause NTDs, especially folate deficiency during early pregnancy. More attention had been paid to the exact mechanism by which this deficiency state causes these defects in the developing embryo. The most significant of all researches was that connecting reduced folate and increased homocysteine level in maternal serum on one hand and the risk of developing a NTD baby on the other hand. Objectives : to determine the significance of homocysteine level in Iraqi mothers who gave birth to babies with NTDs as compared to normal controls. Patients, Materials
... Show MoreThis study was done at Al-Balad City Hospital on 60 diabetic patients (25 male and 35 female). The study included Fasting Blood Sugar and fungal diagnosis (systemic and superficial fungus). The results showed that the high concentration of blood sugar belonged to the group > 70 years among the diabetic patients with high significant differences in comparison with other groups P<0.001 . The result showed that percentage of female systemic fungus infection was higher than male systemic fungus infection ( female 63% and male 24%) and vice versa about superficial fungus infection (female 37% and male 76%) . Data showed that the percentage of nail fungus infection among female diabetic patients was higher than the percentage of male diabetic p
... Show MoreThe main objective of this study is to determine whether the use of He-Ne Laser (632.8 nm wavelength and power 0.5 mW) is an eligible and effective tool to kill or reduce the cell viability of Candida albicans isolated from complete upper dentures. Twenty one swabs were taken from the complete upper dentures. Only six swabs showed positive cultures for C. albicans. The isolate was divided into two groups, group I was not irradiated (control), and group II was irradiated by He-Ne Laser for different periods (10, 15, 20, and 30) min. After irradiation, the results showed a significant reduction in the viable cell count and colonies diameters especially at exposure periods 10 and 15 min. Although the low power He-Ne Laser was not eradicating t
... Show MoreCongenital valvular pulmonary stenosis accounts for 5-10% of all congenital heart disease. Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty is a safe and effective method in reduction of moderate to severe valvular pulmonary stenosis. This retrospective study done in Hawler surgical specialty cardiac center on pediatric patients who had pulmonary valve stenosis (with echocardiographic peak gradient 2:50mmHg) and treated by balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty. A total of 178 cases were involved, 93(52.25%) patient was male and 85 (47.75%) patients was female. 160 patient (89.89%) were treated with single balloon method 18 patient (10.11%) were managed by double balloon method technique. Follow up period of these patients range from 1 year to 10 years (mean of 5.
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