• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.62-65
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• 2023

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine whether the glucose loading method (GLM) is useful in the differentiation of cerebral gliomas by comparing it with fasting images. Materials and Methods The patients were 70 people diagnosed with cerebral gliomas, and the equipment was Discovery 710 (GE Healthcare, MI, USA). All patients fasted for more than 6 hours, and fasting images and GLM were performed under the same imaging conditions, and the examination interval was 1 to 14 days. GLM administered 250 ㎖ of 10% glucose solution prior to radiopharmaceutical injection. SUVmax of cerebral glioma and SUVmean of cerebral cortex were measured and then compared and analyzed by tumor-to-normal brain cortex ratio (TNR). Statistical analysis confirmed the difference between the two images with an independent-sample t-test. Results The averages of GLM and fasting TNR were 1.26 and 1.09, respectively, which were 15.6% higher in GLM. In low-grade, the difference in TNR was insignificant at 4%, but in high-grade, 23%, GLM was high. There was a statistically significant difference between the two images (P=0.008), but there was no statistically significant difference in TNR in the low grade (P=0.473), and there was a very significant difference in the high grade (P=0.005). Conclusion GLM increased TNR for cerebral gliomas. In particular, it was found that the TNR increased more in the high grade. Therefore, GLM is considered to be useful for the differentiation of high-grade gliomas.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.2118-2123
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• 2010

Korean individual occupational exposure control is focused on the retrospective service to the over-exposed person by the reading of personal dosimeter. Since the radiophamaceuticals using in the nuclear medicine department are uncontained radiation sources, the potential exposure at working environment is very high. Moreover, a patient remains radioactive for hours or even days after the administration of a radiopharmaceutical for diagnosis or treatment. Thus, the proper working environmental exposure control must be established and executed to protect not only the affiliated employees, but also guardians accompanying patients and temporarily visiting public from the exposure by the patients. Japanese radiation protection law regulates working environmental radiation exposure by regularly measuring and filing the environmental dose for years. This study was aimed at measuring working environmental radiation dose in the nuclear medicine department of an university hospital located in Daejeon, Korea. We measured the accumulation radiation dose in air at 8 locations in the nuclear medicine department by using the same method as in Japan with glass dosimeters. The highest dose rate, 0.23 mSv per month, was measured at the waiting room, and the second one is at reception desk. Even though the doses were lower than the Korean constraint dose rate (0.3 mSv/week) at the boundary of the radiation controlled area, it was over the dose limit of public (1 mSv/y) and environment (0.25 mSv/y). Conclusionally, it was found that the new or additional procedure was necessary to less the exposure dose to the receptionist and guardians by the environmental radiation dose in the nuclear medicine department.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.40-44
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• 2019

Purpose Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an important index for evaluation of renal function, renal disease diagnosis and progress monitoring. Therefore, accurate measurement of GFR is clinically important. Among the factors that affect the GFR result, there have been many discussions on the methods such as the correction of the kidney depth, net syringe count, and the method of setting the ROI. However there has been no consideration of counting in the most basic factors like height and weight measurement. In this study, we investigate how height and weight changes affects the result of GFR and review the importance of standardized body measurements. Materials and Methods Fifty patients who underwent GFR test were randomly sampled and examined for changes in height and body weight within one month. From the normal patients without renal disease to the patients with severely decreased GFR, we applied the GFR formula of Gate with varying height and weight. Results: The result showed variation of the height at maximum three centimeters and six kilograms of weight. The first calculation of GFR was done with fixed height value and control variable as weight. Weight was incremented by one kilogram each time up to six kilograms. The GFR showed increased result with increasing weight. The result of GFR showed ten percent increase with six kilograms of weight increase. On the other hand, when height value was incremented by one centimeter up to three centimeters showed decreased GFR result with fixed weight value. Up to three centimeters of height increase showed two percent of decreased GFR with fixed weight. Conclusion This study showed varying GFR result when height and weight changes. Therefore it is clinically crucial not only to maintain and manage body measuring instrument but also to have a standardized measurement methods to derive accurate measured values and to achieve reproducibility.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.42-46
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• 2023

Purpose The reference range described in Adrenocorticotropic Hormone reagent used in our laboratory is 10-60 pg/mL at 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 6-30 pg/mL at 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. However, in the case of outpatients, blood is mainly collected between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., accounting for 57.8% of the total. Therefore, This study is intended to help make a more accurate diagnosis by reevaluating the reference range provided by the manufacturer of the Adrenocorticotropic Hormone reagent and setting split-timed reference range. Materials and Methods The patients collected blood before 10 a.m. were group A (68 people), and the patients collected blood after 10 a.m. were set to group B (80 people). A T-test was performed between groups to test their significance. And it was confirmed whether it was necessary to set the gender classification as a subgroup. The method of setting the reference range was calculated by the Bayesian's method and the Hoffmann's method. Results The reference range of Group A was 8.6 to 60.6 pg/mL by the Bayesian's method, and the Hoffmann's method was 3.6 to 61.3 pg/mL. The reference range of Group B was 6.9 to 50.5 pg/mL when applying the Bayesian's method, and the Hoffmann method's was 2.3 to 48.9 pg/mL. Conclusion This study was concluded that it was necessary to set the split-timed reference range. Through this study, the later the blood collection time, the lower the level of Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, indicating that blood collection time is important for patients with clinical significance. If a large number of subjects are selected and supplemented in the future, it is believed that systematic and accurate reference range can be set.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2024

Purpose: When performing nuclear medicine examinations, body wraps or plastic supports are used to support and immobilize the patient's upper extremities to prevent patient safety accidents. However, the existing plastic supports compromised patient and staff safety, including finger entrapment and falls. Moreover, the body wrap provided by manufacturers compromised image quality such as upper extremities cutoff during whole body bone scan. Therefore, a new design of body wrap was developed to improve the issue, and this study aims to evaluate the usability of this medical body wrap. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the usability of the newly designed medical body wrap, a quality assessment of whole body bone scan images and a user satisfaction survey were conducted. Adult patients (male:female=129:152, age: 60.3±12.4 years, BMI: 24.0±4.2) aged 16 years or older who underwent a whole body bone scan during two periods: June to July 2022 (before improvement, n=139) and June to July 2023 (after improvement, n=142) were randomly selected for image quality evaluation. Five radiotechnologists visually evaluated the posterior view of the whole body bone image, including the left and right elbow (2 points), arm (2 points), whether the hand is extended (2 points), whether the hand is included (2 points), and the number of visible fingers (10 points), with a total of 18 points, which were converted to 100 points and analyzed for difference before and after improvement using an independent sample t-test. The user satisfaction questionnaire was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale among 16 radiotechnologists from three general hospitals who experienced the new body wrap. Results: The image quality assessment was 82.0±13.8 before the improvement and 89.3±10.1 after the improvement, an average of 7.3 points higher, with a statistically significant difference (t=5.02, p<0.01). The user satisfaction survey showed an overall satisfaction rating of 4.1±0.8 for ease of use, 3.8±0.7 for scan preparation time, 3.9±0.7 for patient safety, 3.8±1.2 for scan accuracy, and 4.2±0.7 for recommendation (87.5% questionnaire response rate). Conclusion: The developed body wrap showed higher image quality and user satisfaction compared to the old method. Considering these results, it is deemed that the new body wrap may be more useful than existing methods.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 2018

Purpose $^{18}F-FDG$, which is commonly used in PET-CT examinations, is low in capacity and it is difficult to keep the amount of radioactivity busy when the specific activity is high, increasing the amount of space dose and radioactive contamination in the distribution room. Therefore, while evaluating the actual dose administered to patients during the manual dispense process, the medical institution intends to assess the usefulness of the auto dispenser by comparing the differences from the actual dose administered to the patient using the new automatic dispense. Materials and Methods From July 2016 to December 2016, 846 patients were manually administered by workers using $^{18}F-FDG$ and $^{18}F-FDG$ 906 patients were using auto dispenser from July 2017 to December 2017. Results Capacity administered to patients during the manual dispense averaged $35.41{\pm}27.79%$ compared to the recommended dose, and the auto dispenser process showed a small difference of $-2.15{\pm}3.99%$ compared to the recommended dose(p<0.05). Conclusion Working people did not have to touch radioactive medicines directly while they were busy in the auto dispenser, and because of the availability of other tasks far away, the time and distance to receive the exposure were also advantageous. It is believed that future use by many medical institutions will not only reduce the dose to patients but also help reduce the exposure dose to workers.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.15-19
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• 2022

Purpose [⁶⁸Ga]PSMA-11 is needed the high reproducibility, excellent radiochemical yield and purity. In term of radiation safety, the radiation exposure of operator for its production also should be considered. In this work, we performed a comparative study for the fully automated synthesis of [⁶⁸Ga]PSMA-11 between non-cassette type and cassette type. Materials and Methods Two different type of modules (TRACERlab FX N pro for non-cassette type and BIKBox for cassette type) were used for the automated production of [⁶⁸Ga]PSMA-11. According to the previously identified elution profile, Only 2.5 ml with high radioactivity was used for the reaction. After adjusting the pH of the reaction solution with HEPES buffer solution, the precursor was added and reacted with at 95 ℃ for 15 minutes. The reaction mixture was separated and purified using a C18 light cartridge. The product was eluted with 50% EtOH/saline solution and diluted with saline. It was completed by sterilizing filter. In the non-cassette type, the aforementioned process must be prepared directly. However, in the cassette method, synthesis was possible simply by installing a kit that was already completed. Results Both total [⁶⁸Ga]PSMA-11 production time were 25±3(non-cassette type) and 23±3 minutes(cassette type). The radiochemical yield of the non-cassette type(65.5±5.7%) was higher than that of the cassette type(61.6±4.8%) after sterilization filter. The non-cassette type took about 120 minutes of preparation time before synthesis due to washing of synthesizer and reagent preparation. However, since the cassette type does not require washing and reagent preparation, it took about 20 minutes to prepare before synthesis. Both type of synthesizer had a radiochemical high purity(>99%). Conclusion The non-cassette type production of [⁶⁸Ga]PSMA-11 showed higher radiochemical yield and lower cost than the cassette type. However, The cassette type has an advantage in terms of preparation time, convenience, and equipment maintenance.

• Radioisotope journal
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.9-9
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• 1989

• Journal of The Korean Radiological Technologist Association
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.275-275
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• 2002

• Radioisotope journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.84-85
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• 1996