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.
Breast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were
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This study illustrates the impact of non-thermal plasma (Cold Atmospheric Plasma CAP) on the lipids blood, the study in vivo. The lipids are (cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol and triglyceride) are tested. (FE-DBD) scheme of probe diameter 4cm is used for this purpose, and the output voltage ranged from (0-20) kV with variable frequency (0-30) kHz. The effect of non-thermal atmospheric plasma on lipids were studied with different exposure durations (20,30) sec. As a result, the longer plasma exposure duration decreases more lipids in blood.
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Background: For decades, the use of naturally accessible materials in treating human disease has been widespread. The goal of this study was to determine the anti-fungal effectiveness /of the lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) versus Candida albicans (C. albicans) adhesion to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) materials. Material and methods: LGEO's anti-fungal activity was tested against C. albicans adhesion using the following concentration of LGEO in PMMA monomer (2.5 vol. %, 5 vol. % LGEO) selected from the pilot study as the best two effective concentrations. A total of 40 specimens were fabricated for the candida adherence test and were subdivided into four equal groups: negative control 0 vol. % addition, experimental with 2.5 vol. % and
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Background: Adipose derived-mesenchymal stem cells have been used as an alternative to bone marrow cells in this study. Objective: We investigated the in vitro isolation, identification, and differentiation of stem cells into neuron cells, in order to produce neuron cells via cell culture, which would be useful in nerve injury treatment. Method: Mouse adipose mesenchymal stem cells were dissected from the abdominal subcutaneous region. Neural differentiation was induced using β-mercaptoethanol. This study included two different neural stage markers, i.e. nestin and neurofilament light-chain, to detect immature and mature neurons, respectively. Results: The immunocytochemistry results showed that the use of β-mercaptoethanol resulted in
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The art of synthesis is one of the most important pillars in cinematic art, as the director combines cinematic shots to produce a third shot in the mind of the recipient by various methods such as mental synthesis, analogous synthesis, rhythm synthesis, parallel synthesis and repetitive synthesis, Repetitive synthesis is one of the most important techniques in cinematic montage. Through repetitive synthesis, the director is able to link the shots and scenes with each other, and this is what we see in the poetic imagery of Adnan Al-Sayegh when he links the visual images to each other, especially those images that manifest the manifestations of grief and misery following the misfortunes that befell in His homeland. This study follows the d
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In this paper a comparison of the experimental of evacuated tube solar water heater systems with and without mirror flat reflector. The aim of using the reflector to improve thermal efficiency, and the data gathered which are (temperature, solar irradiation and time) for three days were compared. the results from compared data the temperature lower increase in evacuated tube solar water heater system without reflector than the temperature increase in evacuated tube solar water heater system with reflector .The results show (53, 39, 35) % for three days respectively that the evacuated tube solar water heater system with reflector has higher thermal efficiencies than the results (47, 28, 30) % for three days respectively thermal efficiencies
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Background: preparation of root canals is an important step in root canal treatment. Mechanical instrumentation of root canals cause an irregular layer of debris, known as the smear layer. As a result, several studies reported that preferring the removal of the smear layer. Objective: To study the influence of the energy (100 mJ) of Erbium, Chromium: Yttrium Scandium Gallium Garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser at short pulse duration (60 μs) on smear layer removal of apical third after using Photon induced photoacoustic streaming technique. Materials and methods: Eighteen straight single-rooted mandibular premolars were used. The roots length were uniform to 14mm from the anatomic apex and
... Show MoreThis work describes the enhancement of phenol red decolorization through immobilizing of laccase in chitosan and enzyme recycling. Commercial laccase from white rot fungus, Trametesversicolor (Tvlac), was immobilizedin to freshly prepared chitosan beads by using glutaraldehyde as a cross linker. Characterization of prepared chitosan was confirmed by FTIR and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tvlac (46.2 U/mL) immobilized into chitosan beads at 0.8 % glutaraldehyde (v/v) within 24 hrs. Synthetic (HBT) and natural (vanillin) mediators were used to enhance dye decolorizoation. It was found that 89 % of phenol red was decolorized by chitosan beads within 180 min. in the absence of enzyme and mediator, while decolorization percenta
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