PET imaging and quantification of small animals using a clinical SiPM-based camera.

Background: Small-animal PET imaging is an important tool in preclinical oncology. This study evaluated the ability of a clinical SiPM-PET camera to image several rats simultaneously and to perform quantification data analysis.

Methods: Intrinsic spatial resolution was measured using 18F line sources, and image quality was assessed using a NEMA NU 4-2018 phantom.

Safety and Therapeutic Optimization of Lutetium-177 Based Radiopharmaceuticals.

Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) using Lutetium-177 (Lu) based radiopharmaceuticals has emerged as a therapeutic area in the field of nuclear medicine and oncology, allowing for personalized medicine. Since the first market authorization in 2018 of [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-DOTATATE (Lutathera®) targeting somatostatin receptor type 2 in the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, intensive research has led to transfer innovative Lu containing pharmaceuticals to the clinic. Recently, a second market authorization in the field was obtained for [¹⁷⁷Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 (Pluvicto®) in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Impact of disposable syringes type choice on myocardial perfusion imaging procedures with [Tc]Tc-tetrofosmin.

Background: Residual activity in dispensing syringes is a problem that has been sporadically reported with various radiopharmaceuticals. Studies with [Tc]Tc-tetrofosmin are non-consistent so far. The aim was to quantify the residual activity of [Tc]Tc-tetrofosmin in different syringes in a clinical setting and to assess its impact on the clinical imaging procedure.

Feasibility of Imaging Small Animals on a 360° Whole-Body Cadmium Zinc Telluride SPECT Camera: a Phantom Study.

Purpose: Single-photon emission computed tomography has found an important place in preclinical cancer research. Nevertheless, the cameras dedicated to small animals are not widely available. The present study aimed to assess the feasibility of imaging small animals by a newly released 360° cadmium zinc telluride camera (VERITON, Spectrum Dynamics, Israel) dedicated to human patients.

A call for loiasis to be added to the WHO list of neglected tropical diseases.

Loiasis, also called African eye worm, is not currently on WHO's list of priority neglected tropical diseases, even though the risk that individuals with high Loa loa microfilarial densities will develop potentially fatal encephalopathy when they take ivermectin has complicated efforts to use mass drug administration for onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis control in co-endemic areas. At least 10 million residents of central and west Africa are thought to have loiasis, which causes painful and itchy subcutaneous oedema, arthralgia, and discomfort when adult helminths that are 3-7 cm in length are present under the conjunctiva of the eye. High levels of microfilaraemia are associated with renal, cardiac, neurological, and other sequelae, and an increased risk of death.

Advances in PET/CT Technology: An Update.

This article reviews the current evolution and future directions in PET/CT technology focusing on three areas: time of flight, image reconstruction, and data-driven gating. Image reconstruction is considered with advances in point spread function modelling, Bayesian penalised likelihood reconstruction, and artificial intelligence approaches. Data-driven gating is examined with reference to respiratory motion, cardiac motion, and head motion.

Management and evaluation of sodium [131I] iodide contamination after oral administration.

Radioiodine therapy using oral administration of Iodine-131 (I) is a widespread employed strategy for the treatment of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer. Such a therapy requires well-trained staff, equipment and procedures regarding radiation safety. The aims of this work are to report an incidental experience of radioprotection with a 370 MBq sodium [I] iodide capsule, which arose following vomiting one minute after the oral administration in a nuclear medicine department and assessment of capsule leakage in a stomach like environment by in vitro experiment.

Evaluation of a new multipurpose whole-body CzT-based camera: comparison with a dual-head Anger camera and first clinical images.

Background: Evaluate the physical performance of the VERITON CzT camera (Spectrum Dynamics, Caesarea, Israel) that benefits from new detection architecture enabling whole-body imaging compared to that of a conventional dual-head Anger camera.

Methods: Different line sources and phantom measurements were performed on each system to evaluate spatial resolution, sensitivity, energy resolution and image quality with acquisition and reconstruction parameters similar to those used in clinical routine. Extrinsic resolution was assessed using Tc capillary sources placed successively in air, in a head and in a body phantom filled with background activity.

Correction to: Why harmonization is needed when using FDG PET/CT as a prognosticator: demonstration with EARL-compliant SUV as an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer.

An error occurred in the labelling of Fig. 3, where math symbols for SUV thresholds were inverted in panel b when the EARL threshold was applied to the PSF dataset and vice versa. This figure should read as follows: Fig.

Optimization of a dedicated protocol using a small-voxel PSF reconstruction for head-and-neck FDG PET/CT imaging in differentiated thyroid cancer.

Background: FDG PET/CT is crucial before neck surgery for nodal recurrence localization in iodine-refractory differentiated or poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC/PDTC). A dedicated head-and-neck (HN) acquisition performed with a thin matrix and point-spread-function (PSF) modelling in addition to the whole-body PET study has been shown to improve the detection of small cancer deposits. Different protocols have been reported with various acquisition times of HN PET/CT.

Why harmonization is needed when using FDG PET/CT as a prognosticator: demonstration with EARL-compliant SUV as an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer.

Background: To determine EARL-compliant prognostic SUV thresholds in a mature cohort of patients with locally advanced NSCLC, and to demonstrate how detrimental it is to use a threshold determined on an older-generation PET system with a newer PET/CT machine, and vice versa, or to use such a threshold with non-harmonized multicentre pooled data.

Materials And Methods: This was a single-centre retrospective study including 139 consecutive stage IIIA-IIIB patients. PET data were acquired as per the EANM guidelines and reconstructed with unfiltered point spread function (PSF) reconstruction.

Diagnostic value of quantitative assessment of cardiac F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose uptake in suspected cardiac sarcoidosis.

Objective: The identification of cardiac sarcoidosis is challenging as there is no gold standard consensually admitted for its diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of the assessment of cardiac dynamic F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) and net influx constant (Ki) in patients suspected of cardiac sarcoidosis.

Methods: Data obtained from 30 biopsy-proven sarcoidosis patients suspected of cardiac sarcoidosis who underwent a 50-min list-mode cardiac dynamic F-FDG PET/CT after a 24 h high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet were analyzed.

Generating harmonized SUV within the EANM EARL accreditation program: software approach versus EARL-compliant reconstruction.

Background: Evolutions in hardware and software PET technology, such as point spread function (PSF) reconstruction, have been shown to improve diagnostic performance, but can also lead to important device-dependent and reconstruction-dependent variations in standardized uptake values (SUVs). This may preclude the multicentre use of SUVs as a prognostic or diagnostic tool or as a biomarker of the early response to antineoplastic treatments. This study compared two SUV harmonization strategies using a newer reconstruction algorithm that improves lesion detection while maintaining comparability with older systems: (1) the use of a second reconstruction compliant with harmonization standards and (2) the use of a proprietary software tool (EQ.

Does PET SUV Harmonization Affect PERCIST Response Classification?

Unlabelled: Pre- and posttreatment PET comparative scans should ideally be obtained with identical acquisition and processing, but this is often impractical. The degree to which differing protocols affect PERCIST classification is unclear. This study evaluates the consistency of PERCIST classification across different reconstruction algorithms and whether a proprietary software tool can harmonize SUV estimation sufficiently to provide consistent response classification.

First determination of the heart-to-mediastinum ratio using cardiac dual isotope (¹²³I-MIBG/⁹⁹mTc-tetrofosmin) CZT imaging in patients with heart failure: the ADRECARD study.

Purpose: Cardiac innervation is assessed using the heart-to-mediastinum ratio (HMR) of metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) on planar imaging using Anger single photon emission computed tomography (A-SPECT). The aim of the study was to determine the HMR of MIBG obtained using a CZT-based camera (D-SPECT; Spectrum Dynamics, Israel) in comparison with that obtained using conventional planar imaging.

Methods: The ADRECARD study prospectively evaluated 44 patients with heart failure.

Harmonizing FDG PET quantification while maintaining optimal lesion detection: prospective multicentre validation in 517 oncology patients.

Purpose: Point-spread function (PSF) or PSF + time-of-flight (TOF) reconstruction may improve lesion detection in oncologic PET, but can alter quantitation resulting in variable standardized uptake values (SUVs) between different PET systems. This study aims to validate a proprietary software tool (EQ.PET) to harmonize SUVs across different PET systems independent of the reconstruction algorithm used.

Staging the axilla in breast cancer patients with ¹⁸F-FDG PET: how small are the metastases that we can detect with new generation clinical PET systems?

Purpose: Point spread function (PSF) reconstruction improves spatial resolution throughout the entire field of view of a PET system and can detect smaller metastatic deposits than conventional algorithms such as OSEM. We assessed the impact of PSF reconstruction on quantitative values and diagnostic accuracy for axillary staging of breast cancer patients, compared with an OSEM reconstruction, with emphasis on the size of nodal metastases.

Methods: This was a prospective study in a single referral centre in which 50 patients underwent an (18)F-FDG PET examination before axillary lymph node dissection.

Harmonizing SUVs in multicentre trials when using different generation PET systems: prospective validation in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Purpose: We prospectively evaluated whether a strategy using point spread function (PSF) reconstruction for both diagnostic and quantitative analysis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients meets the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) guidelines for harmonization of quantitative values.

Methods: The NEMA NU-2 phantom was used to determine the optimal filter to apply to PSF-reconstructed images in order to obtain recovery coefficients (RCs) fulfilling the EANM guidelines for tumour positron emission tomography (PET) imaging (PSF(EANM)). PET data of 52 consecutive NSCLC patients were reconstructed with unfiltered PSF reconstruction (PSF(allpass)), PSF(EANM) and with a conventional ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm known to meet EANM guidelines.

High-throughput small animal PET imaging in cancer research: evaluation of the capability of the Inveon scanner to image four mice simultaneously.

The aim of this study was to assess the capability of small animal PET (SA-PET) devices to image four mice simultaneously to improve the throughput of SA-PET experiments in cancer research. A customized bed was designed to image up to four mice simultaneously. This bed can easily replace the bed provided by the manufacturer and is connected to an anaesthesia device.

High throughput static and dynamic small animal imaging using clinical PET/CT: potential preclinical applications.

Purpose: The objective of the study was to evaluate state-of-the-art clinical PET/CT technology in performing static and dynamic imaging of several mice simultaneously.

Methods: A mouse-sized phantom was imaged mimicking simultaneous imaging of three mice with computation of recovery coefficients (RCs) and spillover ratios (SORs). Fifteen mice harbouring abdominal or subcutaneous tumours were imaged on clinical PET/CT with point spread function (PSF) reconstruction after injection of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose or [18F]fluorothymidine.

PET/CT for assessing mandibular invasion by intraoral squamous cell carcinomas.

Evaluation of mandible invasion in cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx is a major challenge. Today, CT scans are the most frequent imaging technique used, with sensitivity of 53 to 92% and specificity of 83 to 96%. Positron emission tomography is known as one of the most sensitive imaging techniques for head and neck cancer, but has poor anatomical resolution.

[Interest of PET/CT scan fusion to assess mandible involvement in oral cavity and oro pharyngeal carcinomas].

Unlabelled: The aim of the study is to assess mandible involvement in oral cavity and oropharyngeal carcinomas.

Objective: To evaluate interest of fusion of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with Computed Tomography scan (CT scan).

Method: Eight patients were included in this prospective study.

[Laryngeal schwannoma. Diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Apropos of 2 cases].

Laryngeal schwannoma is an uncommon benign tumor. We report two clinical cases and discuss the different types of clinical symptoms revealing the tumor. Difficulties encountered in obtaining a histological diagnosis are presented.

[Asthma and polyposis].

For many years, the association between asthma and naso-sinus pathology has been noted in the literature. The role of sinus infections on the triggering or aggravation of asthma has been well established. More recently attention has been drawn to the association of the chronic inflammatory rhino-sinus pathologies such as polyposis, with asthmatic illness.