Efficient bone marrow irradiation and low uptake by non-haematological organs with an yttrium-90-anti-CD66 antibody prior to haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

We report the results of a Phase I radiation dose escalation study using an yttrium-90 (Y) labelled anti-CD66 monoclonal antibody given with standard conditioning regimen for patients receiving haematopoietic stem cell transplants for myeloid leukaemia or myeloma. The Y-labelled anti-CD66 was infused prior to standard conditioning. In total, 30 patients entered the trial and 29 received Y-labelled mAb, at infused radiation activity levels of 5, 10, 25, or 37.

Perfusion Imaging and Inflammation Biomarkers Provide Complementary Information in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) can detect early changes in brain perfusion to support the diagnosis of dementia. Inflammation is a driver for dementia progression and measures of inflammation may further support dementia diagnosis.

Objective: In this study, we assessed whether combining imaging with markers of inflammation improves prediction of the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Offline reinforcement learning for safer blood glucose control in people with type 1 diabetes.

The widespread adoption of effective hybrid closed loop systems would represent an important milestone of care for people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). These devices typically utilise simple control algorithms to select the optimal insulin dose for maintaining blood glucose levels within a healthy range. Online reinforcement learning (RL) has been utilised as a method for further enhancing glucose control in these devices.

Open-Path Atmospheric Transmission of Diode-Pumped Alkali Lasers in Maritime and Desert Environments.

A tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) device has been developed to study long-path atmospheric transmission near diode pumped alkali laser (DPAL) emission wavelengths. By employing a single aperture and retro reflector in a mono-static configuration, the noise associated with atmospheric and platform jitter were reduced by a factor of ∼30 and the open-air path length was extended to 4.4 km and over a very broad spectral range, up to 120 cm.

Biomarkers of Inflammation Increase with Tau and Neurodegeneration but not with Amyloid-β in a Heterogenous Clinical Cohort.

Background: Neuroinflammation is an integral part of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Inflammatory mediators can exacerbate the production of amyloid-β (Aβ), the propagation of tau pathology and neuronal loss.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between inflammation markers and established markers of AD in a mixed memory clinic cohort.

Explainable Machine Learning for Real-Time Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia Prediction and Personalized Control Recommendations.

Background: The occurrences of acute complications arising from hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia peak as young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) take control of their own care. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices provide real-time glucose readings enabling users to manage their control proactively. Machine learning algorithms can use CGM data to make ahead-of-time risk predictions and provide insight into an individual's longer term control.

Quantitative Assessment of Regional Mucociliary Clearance in Smokers with Mild-to-Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Chronic Bronchitis from Planar Radionuclide Imaging.

Mucociliary clearance (MCC) rate from the lung has been shown to be reduced in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study investigates the value of regional clearance measurements in assessing MCC in mild-to-moderate disease. Measurement of lung MCC using planar gamma camera imaging was performed in three groups: (i) healthy nonsmoking controls (NSCs) ( = 9), (ii) smoking controls (SCs) who were current smokers with normal lung function ( = 10), and (iii) current smokers with mild-to-moderate COPD and bronchitis ( = 15).

A general framework in single and multi-modality registration for lung imaging analysis using statistical prior shapes.

Background And Objective: A fusion of multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) represents a powerful tool for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) analysis. In this paper, a novel and high-performance MSCT/SPECT non-rigid registration algorithm is proposed to accurately map the lung lobe information onto the functional imaging. Such a fusion can then be used to guide lung volume reduction surgery.

Standardised quantitative radioiodine SPECT/CT Imaging for multicentre dosimetry trials in molecular radiotherapy.

The SEL-I-METRY trial (EudraCT No 2015-002269-47) is the first multicentre trial to investigate the role of I and I SPECT/CT-based tumour dosimetry to predict response to radioiodine therapy. Standardised dosimetry methodology is essential to provide a robust evidence-base for absorbed dose-response thresholds for molecular radiotherapy (MRT). In this paper a practical standardised protocol is used to establish the first network of centres with consistent methods of radioiodine activity quantification.

Quantitative Assessment of Mucociliary Clearance in Smokers with Mild-to-Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Chronic Bronchitis from Planar Radionuclide Imaging Using the Change in Penetration Index.

Mucociliary clearance (MCC) rate from the lung has been shown to be reduced in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study compared the use of change in penetration index (PI) with conventional whole lung clearance in assessing MCC in mild-to-moderate disease. Measurement of lung MCC using planar gamma camera imaging was performed in three groups: (1) healthy nonsmoking controls ( = 9), (2) smoking controls who were current smokers with normal lung function ( = 10), and (3) current smokers with mild-to-moderate COPD and bronchitis ( = 15).

Discovery Molecular Imaging Digital Ready PET/CT performance evaluation according to the NEMA NU2-2012 standard.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate and benchmark the performance characteristics of the General Electric (GE) Discovery Molecular Imaging (MI) Digital Ready (DR) PET/CT.

Materials And Methods: Performance evaluation against the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 2012 standard was performed on three GE Discovery MI DR PET/CT systems installed across different UK centres. The Discovery MI DR performance was compared with the Siemens Biograph mCT Flow, Phillips Ingenuity TF and GE Discovery 690 fully analogue PET/CT systems.

High power Nd:YAG spinning disk laser.

We report on a high power Nd:YAG spinning disk laser. The eight cm diameter disk generated 200 W CW output with 323 W of absorbed pump in a near diffraction-limited beam. The power conversion efficiency was 64%.

(111)In WBC SPECT/CT detection of a radiographically occult solitary infected renal cyst in polycystic kidney disease.

Renal cyst infection-pyocystis-is a potentially life-threatening complication of autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease. Differentiation of pyocystis from pyelonephritis is important for antibiotic management. A 56-year-old woman with autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease and recurrent urinary tract infections was admitted to the hospital with suspicion of pyelonephritis.

18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic variability in functioning oncocytic parathyroid adenoma with brown tumors.

A 29-year-old female patient exhibited a solitary neck mass, severe hypercalcemia, and multiple skeletal lytic lesions consistent with metastatic neoplastic disease. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology of the neck lesion indicated a follicular thyroid neoplasm. CT-guided bone biopsy was non-diagnostic.

MRI of the axillary arch muscle: prevalence, anatomic relations, and potential consequences.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use MRI of the shoulder to analyze the axillary arch muscle and its anatomic relations to lymph nodes and the brachial plexus.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study at a single clinic, five observers blinded to the patient's condition assessed images from 1,109 consecutive initial shoulder MRI examinations for the presence and anatomic relations of the axillary arch. MRI interpretation reports were reviewed for documentation of previous injuries and upper extremity radicular pain or numbness for possible correlations between presence of the arch and symptoms of nerve entrapment.

Fourier block noise reduction: an adaptive filter for reducing Poisson noise in scintigraphic images.

Objectives: Both qualitative and quantitative analysis in nuclear medicine can be undermined by Poisson noise in low-count clinical images. Whilst the conventional smoothing filters are typically used do reduce noise, they also degrade the image structure. Fourier block noise reduction (FBNR) is an adaptive filtering approach, which attempts to reduce image noise and maintain image resolution and structure.

Development of a combined audiovisual and extremity dose monitoring software tool for use in nuclear medicine.

Objectives: Conventional extremity dose monitoring in nuclear medicine, using thermoluminescent dosimeters, provides a convenient method of determining integral doses from a series of procedures. Although semiconductor extremity probes are able to add time information and allow doses from individual procedures to be determined, it can be difficult to relate individual operations to the dose-time curve. Solutions to this problem have been identified and developed.

Comparison of different methods of DatSCAN quantification.

Background: The quantification of DaTSCAN images can be used as an adjunct to visual assessment to differentiate between Parkinson's syndrome and essential tremor. Many programs have been written to assess the relative uptake in the striatum.

Aim: To compare two of the commercially available programs: QuantiSPECT, which analyses isolated data in two dimensions, and BRASS, which performs three-dimensional processing referencing a normal image template.

Variation of DaTSCAN quantification between different gamma camera types.

Objective: To acquire data from a 123I filled Alderson phantom on different gamma cameras types and compare the relative uptake results from processing using the QuantiSPECT program (GE Healthcare).

Methods: A DaTSCAN phantom was filled using the standard protocol and imaged on seven different gamma camera types and on two identical cameras of the same type. The standard GE Healthcare protocols for the given cameras were used.

A novel four-dimensional image registration method for radionuclide therapy dosimetry.

A novel method for registering sequential SPECT scans (4DRRT) is described, whereby all sequential scans acquired in the course of a therapy or a pre-therapy tracer study may be registered in one pass. The method assumes that a monoexponential decay function can be fitted to the series of sequential SPECT scans. Multiple volumes, presenting with different decay rates, are fitted with different mono-exponential functions.