The Potential of Radiolabeled Bisphosphonates in SPECT and PET for Bone Imaging.

Skeletal-related events due to bone metastases can be prevented by early diagnosis using radiological or nuclear imaging techniques. Nuclear medicine techniques such as Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have been used for diagnostic imaging of bone for decades. Although it is widely recognized that conventional diagnostic imaging techniques such as Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have high sensitivity, low cost and wide availability, the specificity of both techniques is rather low compared to nuclear medicine techniques.

Performance evaluation of Gallium-68 radiopharmaceuticals production using liquid target PETtrace 800 cyclotron.

Due to increased demand, cyclotron has an expanding role in producing Gallium-68 (Ga) radiopharmaceuticals using solid and liquid targets. Though the liquid target produces lower end-of-bombardment activity compared to the solid target, our study presents the performance of Ga radiopharmaceuticals production using the liquid target by evaluating the end-of-bombardment activity and the end-of-purification activity of [Ga]GaCl. We also present the effect of increasing irradiation time, which significantly improves the end-of-synthesis yield.

Cyclotron Production of Gallium-68 Radiopharmaceuticals Using the Zn(p,n)Ga Reaction and Their Regulatory Aspects.

Designing and implementing various radionuclide production methods guarantees a sustainable supply, which is important for medical use. The use of medical cyclotrons for radiometal production can increase the availability of gallium-68 (Ga) radiopharmaceuticals. Although generators have greatly influenced the demand for Ga radiopharmaceuticals, the use of medical cyclotrons is currently being explored.

Factors Affecting the Quality of Sleep in Children.

Sleep quality is one of the domains of sleep. Having adequate quality sleep is defined as one's "feeling fresh" after waking-up. Inadequate sleep quality results in sleep insufficiency producing a variety of symptoms and signs.

Paediatric asthma clinical pathway: Impact on cost and quality of care.

Introduction: Uncontrolled asthma may cause an increase in healthcare utilisation, hospital admission and productivity loss. With the increasing burden of asthma in Malaysia, strategies aimed at reducing cost of care should be explored.

Objective: This study aims to determine if a clinical pathway (CPW) for inpatient paediatric asthma would reduce average length of stay (ALOS), improve asthma management and decrease cost.

Knowledge, understanding, attitude, perception and views on HPV infection and vaccination among health care students and professionals in Malaysia.

The human papilloma virus (HPV) is known to be a major causative agent of cervical cancers and warts, limited study has been conducted on its associated factors among health care students and professionals in Malaysia. The present study was carried to explore the knowledge, understanding, attitude, perception and views about HPV infection and vaccination. A total of 576 respondents were recruited to complete a self-administered questionnaire through convenience sampling across Malaysia.

3D surface roughness measurement for scaliness scoring of psoriasis lesions.

Psoriasis is an incurable skin disorder affecting 2-3% of the world population. The scaliness of psoriasis is a key assessment parameter of the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Dermatologists typically use visual and tactile senses in PASI scaliness assessment.

Infant with a sudden, large, post-extubation subglottic cyst.

Acquired subglottic cyst in infancy is almost always associated with episodes of early life intubation. Most cases typically presented late, usually days to months after extubation. We report a case of a subglottic cyst with different presentation than the norm.

Intelligent medical disease diagnosis using improved hybrid genetic algorithm--multilayer perceptron network.

An improved genetic algorithm procedure is introduced in this work based on the theory of the most highly fit parents (both male and female) are most likely to produce healthiest offspring. It avoids the destruction of near optimal information and promotes further search around the potential region by encouraging the exchange of highly important information among the fittest solution. A novel crossover technique called Segmented Multi-chromosome Crossover is also introduced.

Computerised image analysis of vitiligo lesion: evaluation using manually defined lesion areas.

Background: Vitiligo is a cutaneous pigmentary disorder characterized by depigmented macules and patches that result from loss of epidermal melanocytes. Physician evaluates the efficacy of treatment by comparing the extent of vitiligo lesions before and after treatment based on the overall visual impression of the treatment response. This method is called the physician's global assessment (PGA) which is subjective.

Cross-cultural adaptation and reliability of pediatric sleep questionnaire in assessment of sleep-disordered breathing in the Malay speaking population.

Background: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is common but often underdiagnosed in children. The Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire developed by University of Michigan, USA (English UM PSQ) has high sensitivity and specificity in identifying children with sleep-disordered breathing. This study aimed to translate and adapt the English UM PSQ into Malay language as a screening tool to assess SDB among the Malay speaking population.

Analysis of retinal fundus images for grading of diabetic retinopathy severity.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a sight threatening complication due to diabetes mellitus that affects the retina. In this article, a computerised DR grading system, which digitally analyses retinal fundus image, is used to measure foveal avascular zone. A v-fold cross-validation method is applied to the FINDeRS database to evaluate the performance of the DR system.

Analysis of foveal avascular zone in colour fundus images for grading of diabetic retinopathy severity.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a sight threatening complication due to diabetes mellitus that affects the retina. At present, the classification of DR is based on the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Severity. In this paper, FAZ enlargement with DR progression is investigated to enable a new and an effective grading protocol DR severity in an observational clinical study.

Determination of foveal avascular zone in diabetic retinopathy digital fundus images.

Monitoring FAZ area enlargement enables physicians to monitor progression of the DR. At present, it is difficult to discern the FAZ area and to measure its enlargement in an objective manner using digital fundus images. A semi-automated approach for determination of FAZ using color images has been developed.

Tracheal agenesis as a rare cause of difficult intubation in a newborn with respiratory distress: a case report.

Introduction: Tracheal agenesis is a very rare congenital airway anomaly. It may pose a great challenge to the first attending physician both in diagnosis and in establishing the airway during the first day of life.

Case Presentation: We report a newborn Malay baby boy with trachea agenesis (type III by Floyd's classification) who presented with severe respiratory distress immediately after birth.

Objective assessment of psoriasis erythema for PASI scoring.

Skin colour is vital information in dermatological diagnosis as it reflects the pathological condition beneath the skin. It is commonly used to indicate the extent of diseases such as psoriasis, which is indicated by the appearance of red plaques. Although there is no cure for psoriasis, there are many treatment modalities to help control the disease.

Objective assessment of psoriasis erythema for PASI scoring.

Skin colour is vital information in dermatological diagnosis. It reflects pathological condition beneath the skin and commonly being used to indicate the extent of a disease. Psoriasis is a skin disease which is indicated by the appearance of red plaques.

Extraction and reconstruction of retinal vasculature.

Information about retinal vasculature morphology is used in grading the severity and progression of diabetic retinopathy. An image analysis system can help ophthalmologists make accurate and efficient diagnoses. This paper presents the development of an image processing algorithm for detecting and reconstructing retinal vasculature.