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.
Education specialists have differed about determining the best ways to detect the
talented. Since the appearance of the mental and psychological measurement movement, some
scholars adopted intelligence ratios as a criterion to identify the talented and others went to
rely on the degree of academic achievement. Each of these two methods has its own flaws and
mistakes and a large number of talented children were victims of these two methods.
Therefore the need to use other scales for the purpose of detection of talented children
appeared because they provide valuable information which may not be obtained easily
through objective tests and these scales are derived from consecutive studies of gifted andtalented children
Enhancement of the performance for hybrid solar air conditioning system was presented in this paper. The refrigerant temperature leaving the condenser was controlled using three-way valve, this valve was installed after the compressor to regulate refrigerant flow rate towards the solar system. A control system using data logger, sensors and computer was proposed to set the opening valve ratio. The function of control program using LabVIEW software is to obtain a minimum refrigerant temperature from the condenser outlet to enhance the overall COP of the unit by increasing the degree of subcooled refrigerant. A variable load electrical heater with coiled pipe was used instead of the solar collector and the storage tank to simulate the sola
... Show MoreInformation security is a crucial factor when communicating sensitive information between two parties. Steganography is one of the most techniques used for this purpose. This paper aims to enhance the capacity and robustness of hiding information by compressing image data to a small size while maintaining high quality so that the secret information remains invisible and only the sender and recipient can recognize the transmission. Three techniques are employed to conceal color and gray images, the Wavelet Color Process Technique (WCPT), Wavelet Gray Process Technique (WGPT), and Hybrid Gray Process Technique (HGPT). A comparison between the first and second techniques according to quality metrics, Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE), Compression-
... Show MoreIn the current research, we investigated the absorption spectrum for R590 and C480 dyes in ethanol solvent for different dye solution concentrations of 10-4, 10-5 and 10-6M. These dyes have been prepared and studied before and after gamma irradiation (first, second ionization) using cesium-137 source with absorbed doses of 18.36 Gy (time exposure of 10 days) and 73.44 Gy (with time exposure of 40 days). We noticed that the absorption intensity was decreased with decreasing concentration, before gamma irradiation while the absorption spectrum peak shifted towards the short wavelength (blue shift). It was also found that the intensity of absorption spectrum increased and shifted the absorption spectrum peak towards the long wavelength (red
... Show MoreThe importance of the research comes from dealing with the problem of lack of traffic awareness, which causes accidents and the occurrence of human and material losses, and the research aims to study the role of satellite channels in forming traffic awareness among the public, and a sample was chosen from Baghdad consisting of (280) individuals, male and female, and used the questionnaire tool. To obtain the data, which included several questions, the results were analyzed statistically and several results were reached, the most important of which is that there is an interest among the public in following traffic programs at a rate of one to two hours to receive information through traffic programs and to identify and apply gener
... Show MoreA novel demountable shear connector for precast steel‐concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high‐strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (i) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (ii) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (iii) steel beams can b
... Show MoreTannin acyl hydrolase as the common name of tannase is an inducible extracellular enzyme that causes the hydrolysis of galloyl ester and depside bonds in tannins, yielding gallic acid and glucose. The main objective of this study is to find a novel gallic acid and tannase produced by
Cryptography algorithms play a critical role in information technology against various attacks witnessed in the digital era. Many studies and algorithms are done to achieve security issues for information systems. The high complexity of computational operations characterizes the traditional cryptography algorithms. On the other hand, lightweight algorithms are the way to solve most of the security issues that encounter applying traditional cryptography in constrained devices. However, a symmetric cipher is widely applied for ensuring the security of data communication in constraint devices. In this study, we proposed a hybrid algorithm based on two cryptography algorithms PRESENT and Salsa20. Also, a 2D logistic map of a chaotic system is a
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