[Bilateral filter applied to bone scintigraphy].

The aim of this study is to improve the image quality using a post process rather than a correction process at acquisition time. We used a smoothing filter that is widely used on a compact digital camera. Especially for nuclear medicine, when we use a short acquisition time, we will get images that have a large increase in statistical noise.

NEC density and liver ROI S/N ratio for image quality control of whole-body FDG-PET scans: comparison with visual assessment.

Purpose: Patient noise equivalent count (NEC), NEC density, and liver region of interest (ROI) S/N have been proposed as physical indicators of image quality, but have not been thoroughly compared with visual assessments. In this study, those indicators were contrasted with blind visual evaluations for whole-body fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) images acquired under a variety of scanning conditions and body weights.

Methods: Images were acquired on 15 normal subjects using a SET-3000B/L PET scanner with a continuous bed motion.

A case of sclerosing cholangitis with autoimmune pancreatitis evaluated by FDG-PET.

The extrapancreatic bile duct lesions in autoimmune pancreatitis are termed sclerosing cholangitis (SC with AIP), which is known to complicate AIP somewhat more frequently than other extrapancreatic lesions. In cases of SC with AIP, differentiation from primary SC, pancreatic cancer, and bile duct cancer is often difficult. In our patient, pancreatic cancer had to be ruled out at admission, given the findings of obstructive jaundice, pancreatic duct stenosis, and swelling of the pancreas.

Advantages of upright position imaging with medium-energy collimator for sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy in breast cancer patients.

Objective: To evaluate the advantage of upright position imaging with a medium-energy collimator for the detection of sentinel lymph node (SLN).

Methods: Thirty-four patients with operable breast cancer underwent sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy with 99mTc-tin colloid. Images were obtained in 5 different positions and paired images from the same patient were compared using side-by-side interpretation.

Usefulness of medium-energy collimator for sentinel node lymphoscintigraphy imaging in breast cancer patients.

Unlabelled: This study was performed to investigate the usefulness of a general-purpose medium-energy (ME) collimator for the accurate localization of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) in breast cancer patients.

Methods: We compared phantom images and lymphoscintigraphy images obtained under different conditions for a patient with breast cancer. Comparisons were performed between 2 cameras, between a low-energy high-resolution (LEHR) collimator and a general-purpose ME collimator, and between energy windows centered at 141 keV and at 146 keV.

Discrepancy between [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose and 11C-methionine positron emission tomography findings in Sturge-Weber syndrome--case report.

Cerebral blood flow and metabolism were evaluated in an adult with symptomatic intractable epilepsy and Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) manifesting as angiomas in the left cerebral hemisphere. 99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimer single photon emission computed tomography detected reduced blood flow in the entire left cerebral hemisphere, and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) showed decreased glucose metabolism in the left cerebral hemisphere. These findings indicated hypofunction of the left cerebral hemisphere, which caused the right hemiparesis.

[Usefulness of imaging method without using lead plate for sentinel lymph node scintigraphy].

Purpose: In scintigraphy of the sentinel lymph node, it is common to use a lead plate as a shield to reduce star artifact and scattered radiation in the portion surrounding the injected site of radioactive colloid. We have developed an imaging method without using a lead plate, and examined its usefulness in phantom and clinical imagings.

Methods, Results: Star artifact was eliminated using a medium energy collimator.