Hypoglossal nerve delineation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients may reduce the radiation dose and damage to the nerve.

This study aims to establish a delineation guideline for the contouring of the hypoglossal nerve by dividing the nerve into different segments, and to test the possibility of a radiation dose reduction to the hypoglossal nerve in NPC patients receiving radiotherapy. Twenty NPC patients were selected arbitrarily. The hypoglossal nerves were delineated using anatomic landmarks and divided into the cisternal, intracanalicular, carotid, and transverse segments.

Overall Survival of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer With Spinal Metastasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The long-term survival data of lung cancer patients with spinal metastases are crucial for informed treatment decision-making. However, most studies in this field involve small sample sizes. Moreover, survival benchmarking and an analysis of changes in survival over time are required, but data are unavailable.

The study of virtual source position with the geometric convergent ratio errors prevention management method of spot scanning beam in carbon ion therapy.

Introduction: We developed a technique including preventing errors management method capable of dealing with the virtual source position delivered by different carbon ion energies from the pattern of spot scanning beam in this study.

Materials And Methods: A homemade large-format complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor and Gaf Chromic EBT3 films were used for the virtual source position measurement. The Gaf films were embedded in a self-designed rectangular plastic frame to tighten the films and set up on a treatment couch for irradiation in the air with the film perpendicular to the carbon ion beam at the nominal source-axis-distance (SAD) as well as upstream and downstream from the SAD.

Surgical Versus Non-Surgical Treatment for Thoracolumbar Burst Fractures Without Neurological Deficit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Study Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To update the systematic review comparing the outcomes between surgical and non-surgical treatment for thoracolumbar burst fractures without neurological deficit.

Methods: We registered a protocol in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42021291769) and searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases.

Non-invasive high frequency oscillatory ventilation inhibiting respiratory motion in healthy volunteers.

Precision radiotherapy needs to manage organ movements to prevent critical organ injury. The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of motion control of the lung by suppressing respiratory motion. The non-invasive high frequency oscillatory ventilation (NIHFOV) is a technique commonly used in the protection of lung for patients with acute lung disease.

Determination of virtual source position using back projecting zero and convergent arcTAN method for scanning-passive scatter beam in carbon ion therapy.

Objective: This study aims to develop and test a new technique by using the convergent arcTAN (cATAN) method capable of dealing with the virtual source position delivered by different carbon ion energies from the pattern of scanning-passive scatter beam.

Materials And Methods: A homemade large-format CMOS sensor and Gaf Chromic EBT3 films are used for the virtual source position measurement. The Gaf films are embedded in a self-designed rectangular plastic frame to tighten films and set up on a treatment couch for irradiation in air with the film perpendicular to the carbon ion beam at the nominal source-axis-distance (SAD) as well as upstream and downstream from the SAD.

Empirical modeling of the percent depth dose for megavoltage photon beams.

Introduction: This study presents an empirical method to model the high-energy photon beam percent depth dose (PDD) curve by using the home-generated buildup function and tail function (buildup-tail function) in radiation therapy. The modeling parameters n and μ of buildup-tail function can be used to characterize the Collimator Scatter Factor (Sc) either in a square field or in the different individual upper jaw and lower jaw setting separately for individual monitor unit check.

Methods And Materials: The PDD curves for four high-energy photon beams were modeled by the buildup and tail function in this study.

Energy-Related Scatter Analysis for Determining the Effective Point of Measurement of Cylindrical Ion Chamber in Heavy Charged Particle Carbon Ion Beam.

Purpose: An experimental and mathematical study for determining the effective point of measurement ( ) for a Farmer-type cylindrical chamber in a carbon ion passive scatter beam is presented.

Methods: The ionization depth curves measured by the Bragg peak chamber were plotted according to the position of the inner surface of the entrance window, while the Farmer chamber was plotted at the tip of the cylindrical geometric center. The ionization depth curves measured by a cylindrical chamber in the 3D water phantom were then compared with a high-precision parallel-plate PTW Bragg peak chamber for inspecting the upstream shift correction of the cylindrical chamber in the carbon ion beam.

A Mathematical Method to Adjust MLC Leaf End Position for Accurate Dose Calculation in Carbon Ion Beam Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning System.

Introduction: We present a mathematical method to adjust the leaf end position for dose calculation correction in the carbon ion radiation therapy treatment planning system.

Methods And Materials: A straggling range algorism of 400 MeV/n carbon ion beam in nine different multileaf collimator (MLC) materials was conducted to calculate the dose 50% point to derive the offset corrections in the carbon ion treatment planning system (ciPlan). The visualized light field edge position in the treatment planning system is denoted as , and MLC position ( ) is defined as the source to leaf end midpoint projection on axis for monitor unit calculation.

Influence of renal impairment on neurologic outcomes following mechanical thrombectomy in acute vertebrobasilar stroke.

Purpose: Renal impairment (RI) has been regarded as a risk factor for unfavorable neurologic outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute ischemic stroke. However, most of the previous studies were conducted on patients with anterior circulation stroke. Accordingly, the influence of RI on MT outcomes has not been well elucidated in detail in acute vertebrobasilar stroke.

The Study of Field Equivalence Determined by the Modeled Percentage Depth Dose in Electron Beam Radiation Therapy.

Introduction: This study presents an empirical method to model the curve of electron beam percent depth dose (PDD) by using the primary-tail function in electron beam radiation therapy. The modeling parameters and can be used to predict the minimal side length when the field size is reduced below that required for lateral scatter equilibrium (LSE) in electron radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: The electrons' PDD curves were modeled by the primary-tail function in this study.

Impact of renal impairment on short-term outcomes following endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The impact of renal impairment on the outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with endovascular thrombectomy was relatively limited and contradictory. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate this.

Aims: We registered a protocol in September 2020 and searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar accordingly.

First-Pass Arrival Interval of Ultrasound Contrast Medium in the Hepatic Artery and Portal Vein as a Marker for Assessment of Liver Transplant Recipients.

Background: This study measures the first-pass arrival times in the hepatic artery and portal vein of the transplanted liver using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and assess its correlation with graft performance in the early posttransplant period.

Methods: This study evaluated 35 liver transplant recipients who underwent CEUS examination within 1 month of transplant surgery. CEUS under contrast-specific harmonic imaging mode were recorded for 60 seconds immediately after intravenous administration of microbubble ultrasound contrast medium (Sonazoid, GE Healthcare, Oslo, Norway).

Does post-operative radiotherapy improve the treatment outcomes of intracranial hemangiopericytoma? A retrospective study.

Background: Intracranial hemangiopericytoma is a rare disease and surgery is the mainstay treatment. Although postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy is often used, there are no reports comparing different radiotherapy techniques. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of post-operative radiotherapy and different radiotherapy technique on the results in patients with intracranial hemangiopericytoma (HPC).

Radiofrequency Ablation of Benign Thyroid Nodules: Recommendations from the Asian Conference on Tumor Ablation Task Force - Secondary Publication.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a thermal ablation technique widely used for the management of benign thyroid nodules. To date, five academic societies in various countries have reported clinical practice guidelines, opinion statements, or recommendations regarding the use of thyroid RFA. However, despite some similarities, there are also differences among the guidelines, and a consensus is required regarding safe and effective treatment in Asian countries.

Application of Point-of-care Cardiac Ultrasonography in COVID-19 Infection: Lessons Learned from the Early Experience.

The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, also known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was formally defined a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020, and is still a global health issue. Since there is a high prevalence of acute cardiac injury in patients with COVID-19 infection, point-of-care cardiac ultrasound (PoCCUS) may be used for longitudinal monitoring of patients infected with COVID-19. However, there is still limited experience on the application of PoCCUS in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Comparison of colorectal cancer screening between people with and without disability: a nationwide matched cohort study.

Background: The World Health Organization has recognized that people with disability are among the most marginalized in the world. This study's objective was to investigate the differences in the probability of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) between people with disability and without disability in Taiwan.

Methods: The study participants included people with and without disability from the Disability Registration Database (2012) and the National Health Insurance Research Database (2009-2012).

Application of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for the Detection of Delayed Cerebral Ischemia in Poor-Grade Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical feasibility of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the detection of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) in patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) treated with coil embolization.

Methods: Cerebral regional oxygen saturation (rSO) was continuously monitored via two-channel NIRS for 14 days following SAH. The rSO levels according to DCI were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney U-test.

Image-based diagnosis of residual or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma may be a phantom tumor phenomenon.

Some nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients may present convincing radiological evidence mimicking residual or recurrent tumor after radiotherapy. However, by means of biopsies and long term follow-up, the radiologically diagnosed residuals/recurrences are not always what they appear to be. We report our experience on this "phantom tumor" phenomenon.

The status of radiation protection in medicine in the Asia-Pacific region.

More than half of the world's population live in Asia-Pacific. This region is culturally diverse, with significant disparities in terms of socio-economic status, provision of health care and access to advanced technology. The medical use of ionising radiation is increasing worldwide and similarly within the Asia-Pacific region.

Radiofrequency ablation of benign thyroid nodules: recommendations from the Asian Conference on Tumor Ablation Task Force.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a thermal ablation technique widely used for the management of benign thyroid nodules. To date, five academic societies in various countries have reported clinical practice guidelines, opinion statements, or recommendations regarding the use of thyroid RFA. However, despite some similarities, there are also differences among the guidelines, and a consensus is required regarding safe and effective treatment in Asian countries.

Self-co-attention neural network for anatomy segmentation in whole breast ultrasound.

The automated whole breast ultrasound (AWBUS) is a new breast imaging technique that can depict the whole breast anatomy. To facilitate the reading of AWBUS images and support the breast density estimation, an automatic breast anatomy segmentation method for AWBUS images is proposed in this study. The problem at hand is quite challenging as it needs to address issues of low image quality, ill-defined boundary, large anatomical variation, etc.

Endovascular Intervention Versus Surgery in Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms in Equipoise: A Systematic Review.

Background and Purpose- The benefits of endovascular intervention over surgery in the treatment of ruptured aneurysms of anterior circulation remains uncertain. Recently, published studies did not find superiority of endovascular intervention, challenging earlier evidence from a clinical trial. The earlier evidence also had a higher than average proportion of patients in good clinical status, leading to uncertainty about external validity of earlier trials.

Seizure incidence of angiogram-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage: An updated meta-analysis.

Background: To provide updated information on seizure events and patterns in patients with angiogram-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage based on the initial hemorrhage patterns: perimesencephalic subarachnoid hemorrhage (PMH) vs non-PMH.

Methods: A review of online database literature from January 1990 to November 2017 was systematically performed. In case of heterogeneity <50%, a fixed effect model was used.