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.
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 MoreEssential approaches involving photons are among the most common uses of parallel optical computation due to their recent invention, ease of production, and low cost. As a result, most researchers have concentrated their efforts on it. The Basic Arithmetic Unit BAU is built using a three-step approach that uses optical gates with three states to configure the circuitry for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. This is a new optical computing method based on the usage of a radix of (2): a binary number with a signed-digit (BSD) system that includes the numbers -1, 0, and 1. Light with horizontal polarization (LHP) (↔), light with no intensity (LNI) (⥀), and light with vertical polarization (LVP) (↨) is represen
... Show Moreresearch objectives to:
1. identify the social, economic and cultural factors affecting consumption.
2. detect the consumption culture among the population in the city of Erbil.
3. Identify the GATT consumer protection and rights.
The most important results:
1. that there is variation in the answers of respondents about keep up with modernity in the basic consumption (necessary), it swallowed the proportion of yes answers about keep up with modernity in food consumption (72%), and is an indication of growing consumer awareness of the individual in the side of nutrition. The clothing on the side of the proportion of yes answers amounted to (85%), in the health field note that the percentage of yes answers (83%), who are abr
Lying is considered a dangerous tendency among children if it has become a habit. It results in many social problems, such as child’s loss of confidence, lack of others’ respect to him, and his lack of respect to the desired values of the society, such as honesty and trust. Consequently, he will be led to a deviation when he becomes old; especially if the child’s socially unaccepted behavior has not been directed. The research, thus, aims to examine the causes of lying in the most important stage of children’s life; that is, between (4-6) years. Such an aim helps to know about the individual reasons of lying among males and females from teachers’ perspectives. To meet the objective of the study, a number of (128) children
... Show MoreIn many areas, such as simulation, numerical analysis, computer programming, decision-making, entertainment, and coding, a random number input is required. The pseudo-random number uses its seed value. In this paper, a hybrid method for pseudo number generation is proposed using Linear Feedback Shift Registers (LFSR) and Linear Congruential Generator (LCG). The hybrid method for generating keys is proposed by merging technologies. In each method, a new large in key-space group of numbers were generated separately. Also, a higher level of secrecy is gained such that the internal numbers generated from LFSR are combined with LCG (The adoption of roots in non-linear iteration loops). LCG and LFSR are linear structures and outputs
... Show MoreSolubility problem of many of effective pharmaceutical molecules are still one of the major obstacle in theformulation of such molecules. Candesartan cilexetil (CC) is angiotensin II receptor antagonist with very low water solubility and this result in low and variable bioavailability. Self- emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS) showed promising result in overcoming solubility problem of many drug molecules. CC was prepared as SEDDS by using novel combination of two surfactants (tween 80 and cremophore EL) and tetraglycol as cosurfactant, in addition to the use of triacetin as oil. Different tests were performed in order to confirm the stability of the final product which includes thermodynamic study, determination of self-emulsificat
... Show MoreThe objective of this paper is, first, study a new collection of sets such as field and we discuss the properties of this collection. Second, introduce a new concepts related to the field such as measure on field, outer measure on field and we obtain some important results deals with these concepts. Third, introduce the concept of null-additive on field as a generalization of the concept of measure on field. Furthermore, we establish new concept related to - field noted by weakly null-additive on field as a generalizations of the concepts of measure on and null-additive. Finally, we introduce the restriction of a set function on field and many of its properties and characterizations are given.
Plantation of humic acid nanoparticles on the inert sand through simple impregnation to obtain the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) for treating of groundwater contaminated with copper and cadmium ions. The humic acid was extracted from sewage sludge which is byproduct of the wastewater treatment plant; so, this considers an application of sustainable development. Batch tests signified that the coated sand by humic acid (CSHA) had removal efficiencies exceeded 98 % at contact time, sorbent dosage, and initial pH of 1 h, 0.25 g/50 mL and 7, respectively for 10 mg/L initial concentration and 200 rpm agitation speed. Results proved that physicosorption was the predominant mechanism for metals-CSHA interaction because the sorption data followed
... Show MoreA field study was conducted on a sample of the public in Baghdad to study the audience's exposure to the television promotion of pharmaceutical products and their trends in order to determine the rate of exposure of the public to the television promotion of pharmaceutical products according to the theory of uses and rumors and to determine the public's attitudes towards television promotion of pharmaceutical products. A survey of (25) a questions was distributed to a sample of the audience of 150 people. The statistical program SPSS was used to unload the data and for the calculation of frequencies and percentages and correlation coefficients. The research reached several results, Most importantly, the television promotion is well receiv
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