The United States Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health Collaboration: Medical Care Advances via Discovery in Physical Sciences.

Over several months, representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and National Institutes of Health (NIH) had a number of meetings that lead to the conclusion that innovations in the Nation's health care could be realized by more directed interactions between NIH and DOE.

EANM practice guideline/SNMMI procedure standard for dopaminergic imaging in Parkinsonian syndromes 1.0.

Purpose: This joint practice guideline or procedure standard was developed collaboratively by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). The goal of this guideline is to assist nuclear medicine practitioners in recommending, performing, interpreting, and reporting the results of dopaminergic imaging in parkinsonian syndromes.

Methods: Currently nuclear medicine investigations can assess both presynaptic and postsynaptic function of dopaminergic synapses.

Optimization of Parameters for Quantitative Analysis of I-Ioflupane SPECT Images for Monitoring Progression of Parkinson Disease.

Quantitative assessment of dopamine transporter imaging can aid in diagnosing Parkinson disease (PD) and assessing disease progression in the context of therapeutic trials. Previously, the software program SBRquant was applied to I-ioflupane SPECT images acquired on healthy controls and subjects with PD. Earlier work on optimization of the parameters for differentiating between controls and subjects with dopaminergic deficits is extended here for maximizing change measurements associated with disease progression on longitudinally acquired scans.

Semiquantitative Analysis of Dopamine Transporter Scans in Patients With Parkinson Disease.

Purpose: Dopamine transporter (DaT) imaging is an adjunct diagnostic tool in parkinsonian disorders. Interpretation of DaT scans is based on visual reads. SBRquant is an automated method that measures the striatal binding ratio (SBR) in DaT scans, but has yet to be optimized.

Design of a Multi-Pinhole Collimator for I-123 DaTscan Imaging on Dual-Headed SPECT Systems in Combination with a Fan-Beam Collimator.

For the 2011 FDA approved Parkinson's Disease (PD) SPECT imaging agent I-123 labeled DaTscan, the volume of interest (VOI) is the interior portion of the brain. However imaging of the occipital lobe is also required with PD for calculation of the striatal binding ratio (SBR), a parameter of significance in early diagnosis, differentiation of PD from other disorders with similar clinical presentations, and monitoring progression. Thus we propose the usage of a combination of a multi-pinhole (MPH) collimator on one head of the SPECT system and a fan-beam on the other.

ENPP1-Fc prevents mortality and vascular calcifications in rodent model of generalized arterial calcification of infancy.

Diseases of ectopic calcification of the vascular wall range from lethal orphan diseases such as generalized arterial calcification of infancy (GACI), to common diseases such as hardening of the arteries associated with aging and calciphylaxis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). GACI is a lethal orphan disease in which infants calcify the internal elastic lamina of their medium and large arteries and expire of cardiac failure as neonates, while calciphylaxis of CKD is a ubiquitous vascular calcification in patients with renal failure. Both disorders are characterized by vascular Mönckeburg's sclerosis accompanied by decreased concentrations of plasma inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi).

Evaluation of an Objective Striatal Analysis Program for Determining Laterality in Uptake of ¹²³I-Ioflupane SPECT Images: Comparison to Clinical Symptoms and to Visual Reads.

Unlabelled: An automated objective striatal analysis (OSA) software program was applied to dopamine transporter (123)I-ioflupane images acquired on subjects with varying severities of parkinsonism. The striatal binding ratios (SBR) of the left and right putamina (relative to the occipital lobe) were computed, and the laterality of that measure was compared with clinical symptoms and visual reads. The objective over-read of OSA was evaluated as an aid in confirming the laterality of disease onset.

Kinetic modeling, test-retest, and dosimetry of 123I-MNI-420 in humans.

Unlabelled: In vivo imaging of adenosine 2A receptors (A2A) in the brain has attracted significant interest from the scientific community, because studies have shown that dysregulation of these receptors is implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson and Huntington diseases. This work aimed to describe the kinetic properties, test-retest results, and dosimetry estimates of (123)I-MNI-420, a SPECT radiotracer for the in vivo imaging of A2A in the brain.

Methods: Nine healthy human subjects were enrolled in this study; 7 completed (123)I-MNI-420 brain SPECT studies, and 2 participated in whole-body planar imaging evaluating (123)I-MNI-420 biodistribution and dosimetry.

Receiver-operating-characteristic analysis of an automated program for analyzing striatal uptake of 123I-ioflupane SPECT images: calibration using visual reads.

Unlabelled: A fully automated objective striatal analysis (OSA) program that quantitates dopamine transporter uptake in subjects with suspected Parkinson's disease was applied to images from clinical (123)I-ioflupane studies. The striatal binding ratios or alternatively the specific binding ratio (SBR) of the lowest putamen uptake was computed, and receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to 94 subjects to determine the best discriminator using this quantitative method.

Methods: Ninety-four (123)I-ioflupane SPECT scans were analyzed from patients referred to our clinical imaging department and were reconstructed using the manufacturer-supplied reconstruction and filtering parameters for the radiotracer.

The role of the core imaging laboratory in multicenter trials.

The incorporation of imaging biomarkers and clinical trials is now common. Because of the multiple technical, clinical, and regulatory demands to ensure high-quality quantitative information, the core laboratory serves as a critical intermediary between the study sponsor and the site. It provides unique expertise not found in typical clinical research organizations.

Optimized, automated striatal uptake analysis applied to SPECT brain scans of Parkinson's disease patients.

Unlabelled: Reliable quantitative dopamine transporter imaging is critical for early and accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Image quantitation is made difficult by the variability introduced by manual interventions during the quantitative processing steps. A fully automated objective striatal analysis (OSA) program was applied to dopamine transporter images acquired from PD subjects with early symptoms of suspected parkinsonism and compared with manual analysis by a trained image-processing technologist.

Imaging onset and propagation of ECT-induced seizures.

Purpose: Regions of seizure onset and propagation in human generalized tonic-clonic seizures are not well understood. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurements with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)-induced seizures provide a unique opportunity to investigate seizure onset and propagation under controlled conditions.

Methods: ECT stimulation induces a typical generalized tonic-clonic seizure, resembling spontaneous generalized seizures in both clinical and electroencephalogram (EEG) manifestations.

Localizing value of ictal-interictal SPECT analyzed by SPM (ISAS).

Purpose: The goal of neuroimaging in epilepsy is to localize the region of seizure onset. Single-photon emission computed tomography with tracer injection during seizures (ictal SPECT) is a promising tool for localizing seizures. However, much uncertainty exists about how to interpret late injections, or injections done after seizure end (postictal SPECT).

Optimizing Compton camera geometries.

Compton cameras promise to improve the characteristics of nuclear medicine imaging, wherein mechanical collimation is replaced with electronic collimation. This leads to huge gains in sensitivity and, consequently, a reduction in the radiation dosage that needs to be administered to the patient. Design modifications that improve the sensitivity invariably compromise resolution.

Positive and negative network correlations in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Temporal lobe seizures are accompanied by complex behavioral phenomena including loss of consciousness, dystonic movements and neuroendocrine changes. These phenomena may arise from extended neural networks beyond the temporal lobe. To investigate this, we imaged cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes during human temporal lobe seizures with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) while performing continuous video/EEG monitoring.

Automated kinetic analysis of FDG uptake in living rat brain slices from dynamic positron autoradiography.

Changes in regional cerebral glucose metabolism were investigated for varying levels of tissue oxygenation using a dynamic positron autoradiography technique. While incubating fresh rat brain slices with [18F]FDG in an oxygenated solution, serial images of the tissue slices were obtained over a time period of up to 300 min and archived onto over 20 phosphorous imaging plate exposures. In order to properly create time activity curves of the uptake levels, images of the individual tissue samples were automatically located, digitally extracted, and registered with the later images of the same tissue samples.

Selective frontal, parietal, and temporal networks in generalized seizures.

Are "generalized" seizures truly generalized? Generalized tonic-clonic seizures are classified as either secondarily generalized with local onset or primarily generalized, without known focal onset. In both types of generalized seizures widespread regions of the nervous system engage in abnormally synchronous and high-frequency neuronal firing. However, emerging evidence suggests that all neurons are not homogeneously involved; specific nodes within the network may be crucial for the propagation and behavioral manifestations of generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Display of fused images: methods, interpretation, and diagnostic improvements.

The use of integrated visualization for medical images aims at assisting clinicians in the difficult task of mentally translating and integrating medical image data from multiple sources into a three-dimensional (3D) representation of the patient. This interpretation of the enormous amount and complexity of contemporary, multiparameter, and multimodal image data demands efficient methods for integrated presentation. This article reviews methods for fused display with the main focus on integration of functional with anatomical images.

Targeted prefrontal cortical activation with bifrontal ECT.

The anatomical brain regions involved in the therapeutic and adverse actions of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are unknown. Previous studies suggest that bifrontal vs. bitemporal ECT differ in therapeutic efficacy and cognitive side effects.