Investigation of the effectiveness of no-reference metric in image evaluation in nuclear medicine.

Background: In nuclear medicine, normalized mean square error (NMSE) is widely used for image quality evaluation and machine adjustment. However, evaluating clinical images in nuclear medicine using NMSE necessitates acquiring a reference image, which is time consuming and impractical. Therefore, it is necessary to explore no-reference metrics, such as perception-based image quality evaluator (PIQE) and natural image quality evaluator (NIQE), as alternatives for evaluating the quality of clinical images used in nuclear medicine.

Short-term hepatocyte function and portal hypertension outcomes of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir for decompensated hepatitis C-related cirrhosis.

Background: It is unclear whether hepatocyte function and/or portal hypertension improves if a sustained virologic response (SVR) is achieved with direct-acting antivirals in patients with decompensated hepatitis C-related cirrhosis.

Methods: We examined the safety and efficacy of a 12-week course of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) in 20 patients with decompensated hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. We also investigated changes in the hepatocyte receptor index (LHL15) and blood clearance index (HH15) by Tc-99 m-galactosyl human serum albumin scintigraphy, liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography, and hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) in patients who achieved an SVR at 24 weeks after treatment (SVR24).

[Development of Dose Management Software Using Visual Basic for Applications and Dose Evaluation in the Field of Nuclear Medicine].

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop software for smooth dose management based on the Japan diagnostic reference levels (DRLs 2020) in the field of nuclear medicine.

Method: Using the programming language Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), we implemented a function for calculating actual doses, a function for comparing doses at one's own facility with those of DRLs 2020, a function for calculating appropriate doses for pediatric nuclear medicine examinations, and so on. In addition, we evaluated actual doses before and after the software implementation.

Predicting the Prognosis of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis Using the Bone Scan Index and Hot Spots Calculated Using VSBONEⓇ Bone Scan Index from Tc-99m-Hydroxymethylene Diphosphonate Bone Scintigraphy.

Introduction: The bone scan index (BSI) is widely used as a quantitative indicator of bone metastasis, therapeutic effect assessment, and prognosis prediction in prostate cancer. However, the BONE NAVI, which calculates BSI, only supports bone scintigraphy using Tc-99m-methylene diphosphonate. We developed the VSBONEⓇ BSI, which calculates BSI from bone scintigraphy using Tc-99m-hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (HMDP).

Deep learning-based detection of parathyroid adenoma by Tc-MIBI scintigraphy in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.

Objective: It is important to detect parathyroid adenomas by parathyroid scintigraphy with 99m-technetium sestamibi (Tc-MIBI) before surgery. This study aimed to develop and validate deep learning (DL)-based models to detect parathyroid adenoma in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, from parathyroid scintigrams with Tc-MIBI.

Methods: DL-based models for detecting parathyroid adenoma in early- and late-phase parathyroid scintigrams were, respectively, developed and evaluated.

Extraction of metastasis hotspots in a whole-body bone scintigram based on bilateral asymmetry.

Purpose: A hotspot of bone metastatic lesion in a whole-body bone scintigram is often observed as left-right asymmetry. The purpose of this study is to present a network to evaluate bilateral difference of a whole-body bone scintigram, and to subsequently integrate it with our previous network that extracts the hotspot from a pair of anterior and posterior images.

Methods: Input of the proposed network is a pair of scintigrams that are the original one and the flipped version with respect to body axis.

Per-rectal portal scintigraphy as an alternative measure of hepatic venous pressure gradient in chronic liver disease: A preliminary report.

Aim: Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement is a gold standard for the diagnosis of portal hypertension but can be invasive and difficult to conduct. Per-rectal portal scintigraphy (PRPS) can estimate portal haemodynamics noninvasively. However, no report to date has examined the association between HVPG and PRPS in patients with chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis.

Assessment of a software for semi-automatically calculating the bone scan index on bone scintigraphy scans.

Aims: The incidence of bone metastases exceeds 85% in patients who die from prostate cancer. Bone scintigraphy is the most widely used method for the early detection of bone metastases in prostate cancer. We developed a software program that semi-automatically calculated the bone scan index (BSI) on technetium-99m hydroxymethylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy scans with a computer-aided diagnosis system (CAD) and examined whether the BSI calculated using this software could replace the extent of disease (EOD) score.

Study of the Usefulness of Bone Scan Index Calculated From 99m-Technetium- Hydroxymethylene Diphosphonate (Tc-HMDP) Bone Scintigraphy for Bone Metastases from Prostate Cancer Using Deep Learning Algorithms.

Background: BSI calculated from bone scintigraphy using technetium-methylene diphosphonate (Tc-MDP) is used as a quantitative indicator of metastatic bone involvement in bone metastasis diagnosis, therapeutic effect assessment, and prognosis prediction. However, the BONE NAVI, which calculates BSI, only supports bone scintigraphy using Tc-MDP.

Aims: We developed a method in collaboration with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology to calculate bone scan index (BSI) employing deep learning algorithms with bone scintigraphy images using technetium-hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (Tc-HMDP).

Correction to: Automated measurement of bone scan index from a whole-body bone scintigram.

The article Automated measurement of bone scan index from a whole-body bone scintigram.

Automated measurement of bone scan index from a whole-body bone scintigram.

Purpose: We propose a deep learning-based image interpretation system for skeleton segmentation and extraction of hot spots of bone metastatic lesion from a whole-body bone scintigram followed by automated measurement of a bone scan index (BSI), which will be clinically useful.

Methods: The proposed system employs butterfly-type networks (BtrflyNets) for skeleton segmentation and extraction of hot spots of bone metastatic lesions, in which a pair of anterior and posterior images are processed simultaneously. BSI is then measured using the segmented bones and extracted hot spots.

Prognostic significance of pretreatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography evaluation using metabolic tumor volume of the primary tumor and lymph nodes in advanced hypopharyngeal cancer.

Background: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the usefulness of pretreatment positron emission tomography (PET) using metabolic tumor volume (MTV) of the primary tumor and lymph nodes in advanced hypopharyngeal cancer.

Methods: From June 2007 to December 2015, consecutive patients with advanced hypopharyngeal cancer who underwent PET and were treated with definitive radiation therapy were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: A total of 61 patients were eligible for this study.

Heterogeneous liver uptake of Tc-99m-GSA as quantified through SPECT/CT helps to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis: A retrospective observational study.

Tc-99m-galactosyl human serum albumin (GSA) scintigraphy is used to assess the hepatic functional reserve, and allows for visual assessment of the residual hepatocyte distribution on single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) images. The association between heterogeneous liver uptake of Tc-99m-GSA and liver fibrosis remains to be studied in detail. We analyzed this association.

[Using Super Resolution to Denoise on PET Images].

A high-resolution display panel comes to practical use, but the resolution of the indicated contents does not change. The up-sampling processing is applied to indication of the low-resolution contents. In the up-sampling process, the super resolution enables an up-sampling process which estimates information of high frequency components lost by sampling while analyzing input images is noticed.

[Scatter Correction of Septal Penetration for I-IMP Cerebral Blood Flow SPECT Adding Radioactivity from the Outside of Field of View-Comparison between Simulation-based and Multi-window Scatter Corrections].

Purpose: The N-Isopropyl-p-[123I] Iodoamphetamine (I-IMP) SPECT imaging reduces the image quality and quantitative accuracy due to scatter and septal penetration occurred by radioactive uptake from outside of the field of view such as the lungs. We evaluated the influence of scatter and septal penetration using phantom-simulated radioactivity from outside of the field of view, and subsequently compared the effect of scatter and septal penetration corrections between the simulation-based effective scatter source estimation (ESSE) method and the multi-window method (ellipse approximation method).

Methods: We used the phantom filled with 10 and 25 kBq/mL for the brain and lung parts corresponding to radioactive concentration in the clinical study.

Regional Liver Disorder with Differences in the Accumulation of Tc-phytate and Tc-galactosyl Human Serum Albumin.

We report a 56-year-old woman with regional liver disorder due to acute hepatitis. Computed tomographic images showed low signal density at a plain phase and prolonged contrast effect at a late phase in the left hepatic lobe, in which an accumulation of Tc-phytate increased, whereas that of Tc-galactosyl human serum albumin (GSA) decreased. Meanwhile, in the right lobe, an accumulation of Tc-GSA showed more increased than that of Tc-phytate.

Usefulness of Stereotactic Radiotherapy Using CyberKnife for Recurrent Lymph Node Metastasis of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

A woman in her 60s presented with a recurrent lymph node metastasis from a papillary thyroid carcinoma in the right parapharyngeal space. She had already undergone total thyroidectomy, five resections for cervical lymph node metastases, and right carotid rebuilding. Surgical resection of the current metastasis was impossible.

Diffuse Gallium-67 Accumulation in the Left Atrial Wall Detected Using SPECT/CT Fusion Images.

Gallium-67 scintigraphy is useful for detecting active inflammation. We show a 66-year-old female patient with atrial fibrillation and diffuse thickening of the left atrial wall due to acute myocarditis, who presented diffuse abnormal accumulation of gallium-67 in the left atrium on single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) fusion images. In the second gallium-67 scan 2 months after the first scintigraphy, the abnormal accumulation in the heart was no longer visible.

Parahippocampal Atrophy is Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients frequently show depressive symptoms, yet the pathological background remains unclear. The voxel-based specific regional analysis system for AD (VSRAD) allows quantification of atrophy in the medial temporal structures. We measured the degree of parahippocampal atrophy in AD patients using VSRAD, and investigated the association between imaging analysis results and the severity of depressive symptoms.

[Imaging of hyperparathyroidism-Ultrasonography and 99mTc-MIBI scintigraphy-].

Treatments for primary hyperparathyroidism due to adenoma, hyperplasia and carcinoma and secondary hyperparathyroidism are mainly surgical resections of them. Accurate imaging diagnoses of the existences and the regions are very important for reductions of invasiveness. We describe ultrasonography and (99m)Tc-MIBI scintigraphy of hyperparathyroidism.

Evaluation of ablation of thyroid remnants with 1850 MBq iodine-131 in 67 patients with thyroid cancer.

Background: Radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) is used to destroy residual normal thyroid tissue after total thyroidectomy in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients. As 1850-MBq RRA is routinely performed at our facility, we evaluated the outcomes.

Methods: Sixty-seven DTC patients without macroscopic residual lesions after total thyroidectomy were evaluated.

The Relationship Between Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy and Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Dementia With Lewy Bodies.

Background: The relationship between medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) and cognitive impairment in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) remains unclear. We examined this relationship using voxel-based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer disease (VSRAD) advance software, which allowed us to quantify the degree of MTA on images obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients diagnosed with DLB were recruited and scanned with a 1.

Correlation between right medial temporal lobe atrophy and persecutory delusions in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type demonstrated on VSRAD advance.

Background: The relationship between focal brain atrophy and delusions in patients with Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT) is not well understood. Few studies have been reported on the association between medial temporal atrophy (MTA) and persecutory delusions in patients with DAT. We investigated the relationship between MTA and persecutory delusions in patients with DAT using voxel-based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer's disease (VSRAD) advance software, which allows us to quantify the laterality and the degree of MTA on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.