• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 2015

We evaluate the influence of MR contrast agent on positron emission tomography (PET) image using phantom, animal and human studies. Phantom consisted of 15 solutions with the mixture of various concentrations of Gd-based MR contrast agent and fixed activity of [$^{18}F$]FDG. Animal study was performed using rabbit and two kinds of MR contrast agents. After injecting contrast agent, CT or MRI scanning was performed at 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 minutes. PET image was obtained using clinical PET/CT scan, and attenuation correction was performed using the all CT images. The values of HU, PET activity and MRI intensity were obtained from ROIs in each phantom and organ regions. In clinical study, patients (n=20) with breast cancer underwent sequential acquisitions of early [$^{18}F$]FDG PET/CT, MRI and delayed PET/CT. In phantom study, as the concentration increased, the CT attenuation and PET activity also increased. However, there was no relationship between the PET activity and the concentration in the clinical dose range of contrast agent. In animal study, change of PET activity was not significant at all time point of CT scan both MR contrast agents. There was no significant change of HU between early and delayed CT, except for kidney. Early and delayed SUV in tumor and liver showed significant increase and decrease, respectively (P<0.05). Under the condition of most clinical study (< 0.2 mM), MR contrast agent did not influence on PET image quantitation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2023.07a
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• pp.179-181
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• 2023

본 논문에서는 GAN 기반의 영상 생성 방법론을 이용해 delayed PET 영상을 생성하는 연구를 수행하였다. PET은 양전자를 방출하는 방사성 동위원소를 표지한 방사성의약품의 체내 분포를 시각화함으로서 암 세포 진단에 이용되는 의료영상 기법이다. 하지만 PET의 스캔 과정에서 방사성의약품이 체내에 분포하는 데에 걸리는 시간이 오래 걸린다는 문제점이 존재한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 방사성의약품이 충분히 분포되지 않은 상태에서 얻은 PET 영상을 통해 목표로 하는 충분히 시간이 지난 후에 얻은 PET 영상을 생성하는 모델을 GAN (generative adversarial network)에 기반한 image-to-image translation(I2I)를 통해 수행했다. 특히, 생성 전후의 영상 간의 영상 쌍을 고려한 paired I2I인 Pix2pix와 이를 고려하지 않은 unpaired I2I인 CycleGAN 두 가지의 방법론을 비교하였다. 연구 결과, Pix2pix에 기반해 생성한 delayed PET 영상이 CycleGAN을 통해 생성한 영상에 비해 영상 품질이 좋음을 확인했으며, 또한 실제 획득한 ground-truth delayed PET 영상과의 유사도 또한 더 높음을 확인할 수 있었다. 결과적으로, 딥러닝에 기반해 early PET을 통해 delayed PET을 생성할 수 있었으며, paired I2I를 적용할 경우 보다 높은 성능을 기대할 수 있었다. 이를 통해 PET 영상 획득 과정에서 방사성의약품의 체내 분포에 소요되는 시간을 딥러닝 모델을 통해 줄여 PET 이미징 과정의 시간적 비용을 절감하는 데에 크게 기여할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.176-182
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• 2006

Objective : This study concernes the usefulness of $^{11}C-methyl-L-and$ D-methionine[Met]-positron emission tomography[PET] for glioma grading and detection of recurrence in gliomas, compared with fluorine-18, 2-fluoro-deoxyglucose[FDG]-PET. Methods : Eighty patients underwent Met-PET study for evaluation of glioma : 37 astrocytomas [WHO grade II, 3; III, 8; IV, 26]. 27 oligodendrogliomas [WHO grade II, 16; III, 11]. and 12 suspicious recurrent gliomas. All images were taken within 2 weeks before operation. For suspicious recurrent cases on magnetic resonance images, both FDG-PET and Met-PET were performed. Results : In astrocytoma, Mean maximum standard uptake value[SUV] of region of interest[ROI] was not different between WHO grades [p=0.108]. but ROI/normal contralateral tissue SUV [T/N] ratio was statistically different between WHO grades [p=0.002]. T/N ratio was more closely related to visual scale than maximum SUV of ROI [p<0.001 and p=0.107 respectively]. In oligodendroglioma, there was no statistical difference between WHO grades in view of maximum SUV and T/N ratio. For recurrent gliomas, sensitivity of FDG-PET and Met-PET was 25% and 100%, while specificity of FDG-PET and Met-PET were 100% and 80%, respectively. Conclusion : Met-PET might be an appropriate tool for tumor grading in astrocytoma and be more sensitive for detection of recurrence in gliomas than FDG-PET.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2009

Background: $^{18}F$-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is widely used for the diagnosis and staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study is to determine whether the bone marrow hypermetabolism seen on FDG-PET predicts a response to chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC. Methods: We evaluated the patients with advanced NSCLC and who were treated with combination chemotherapy. For determination of the standardized uptake value (SUV) of the bone marrow (BM SUV) on FDG-PET, regions of interest (ROIs) were manually drawn over the lumbar vertebrae (L1, 2, 3). ROIs were also drawn on a homogenous transaxial slice of the liver to obtain the bone marrow/ liver SUV ratio (BM/L SUV ratio). The response to chemotherapy was evaluated according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor (RECIST) criteria after three cycles of chemotherapy. Results: Fifty-nine NSCLC patients were included in the study. Multivariate analysis was performed using a logistic regression model. The BM SUV and the BM/L SUV ratio on FDG-PET were not associated with a response to chemotherapy in NSCLC patients (p=0.142 and 0.978, respectively). Conclusion: The bone marrow hypermetabolism seen on FDG-PET can not predict a response to chemotherapy in NSCLC patients.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2019

Fluorine-18 is considered to be the radionuclide of choice for positron emission tomography (PET). Thus, the development of small molecule-based radiopharmaceuticals for use in diagnostic imaging relies heavily on efficient radiofluorination techniques. Until the early 2000s, diaryliodonium salts and aryliodonium ylides were widely employed as labeling precursors to yield aromatic PET radiotracers with cyclotron-produced [¹⁸F]fluoride ion. Rapid recent progress in the development of efficient borylation methods has led to a paradigm shift in ¹⁸F-labeling methods. In addition, deoxyfluorination has attracted a great deal of interest as an alternative approach to aryl ring activation with ¹⁸F^-. In this review, methods for radiolabel development are discussed with a specific focus on the progress made in the last 5 years. Other interesting ¹⁸F-based protocols are also briefly introduced. New methods for exploiting ¹⁸F^- are expected to increase the number of ¹⁸F-labeling methods, to allow applications in a range of chemical environments.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 2016

As a neurotransmitter, serotonin plays important roles in brain. It relates various neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia. [$^{11}C$]DASB is a well-known PET tracer for serotonin transporter imaging. In this study, we synthesized [$^{11}C$]DASB in HPLC loop for simple and rapid production. Total synthesis time was about 40 minutes and the radiochemical purities were over 99%. The specific activity was $51.4GBq/{\mu}mole$ (n=16). [$^{11}C$]DASB showed highest uptake in mid-brain that serotonergic nerves are abundant and lowest uptake in cerebellum. In conclusion, we used HPLC loop method for [$^{11}C$]DASB labeling and this method is useful for production of $^{11}C$ labeled PET tracers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.324-327
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• 2002

For a next generation PET that realizes high sensitivity and high resolution, we proposed a design of a depth of interaction detector. A unit of the detector is constructed of four stages rectangular blocks of 2 by 2 Gd$_2$SiO$\sub$5/: Ce (GSO) crystal array optically coupled to position sensitive photomultiplier tube (PS-PMT). The 256ch flat panel PS-PMT is under development by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., JAPAN. It has large cathode area, 51.7 by 51.7 mm$^2$, and the ratio of the effective area to external size is about 90%. The feature will contribute high packing fraction, accordingly high sensitivity. The 256 anodes are arranged in 16 by 16 at intervals of 3.0 mm. So as to evaluate the detector capability for identifying crystal of interaction, we got positioning image histograms with coupling a 16 by 5 array of GSO crystals, 2.9 by 2.9 by 7.5 mm$^3$, to the PS-PMT by irradiating a gamma ray uniformly from a point source. Flat panel PS-PMT is a new promising device for PET. We need to evaluate it if its performance is sufficiency. The performance was compared to the one with a 16ch PS-PMT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.318-321
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• 2002

As a part of the next generation PET project, we have developed a depth of interaction detector which is consist of three-dimensional arrays of GSO crystal elements sized 2.9mm ${\times}$ 2.9mm ${\times}$ 7.5mm. The basic structure of a detector block is 4-stages in depth, one stage is composed of 2 by 2 array of the crystal elements. The blocks are optically coupled to a position sensitive photomultiplier tube. Each crystal element can be in different conditions; rough or chemical etching for the crystal surface. The effect of the difference of crystal surface condition on the detector performance was analyzed in one-dimensional crystal array as a basic study for the three-dimensional detector by a simple model which is considered only probabilities of transmission, reflect and absorption of photons are in a crystal. As the next step, we investigated the effect of different crystal surface condition in a "U shaped detector" which is an array of stacked crystals bending at the center.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.22-36
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• 2016

$^{68}Ga$ is a promising radionuclide for positron emission tomography (PET). It is a generator-produced ($^{68}Ge/^{68}Ga$-generator) radionuclide with a half-life of 68 min. The employment of $^{68}Ga$ for basic research and clinical applications is growing exponentially. Bifunctional chelators (BFCs) that can be efficiently radiolabeled with $^{68}Ga$ to yield complexes with good in vivo stability are needed. Given the practical advantages of $^{68}Ga$ in PET applications, gallium complexes are gaining increasing attention in biomedical imaging. However, new $^{68}Ga$-labeled radiopharmaceuticals that can replace $^{18}F$-labeled agents like [$^{18}F$]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) are needed. The majority of $^{68}Ga$-labeled derivatives currently in use consist of peptide agents, but the development of other agents, such as amino acid or nitroimidazole derivatives and glycosylated human serum albumin, is being actively pursued in many laboratories. Thus, the availability of new $^{68}Ga$-labeled radiopharmaceuticals with high impact is expected in the near future. Here, we present an overview of the different new classes of chelators for application in molecular imaging using $^{68}Ga$ PET.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2019

Purpose: We evaluated failure pattern and treatment outcomes of observational approach on regional lymph node (LN) in cutaneous melanoma of extremities and sought to find clinico-pathologic factors related to LN metastases. Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 73 patients with cutaneous melanoma of extremities between 2005 and 2016. If preoperative 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) findings were non-specific for regional LNs, surgical resection of primary tumors with adequate margins was performed without sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and/or complete lymph node dissection (CLND), irrespective of tumor thickness or size. In patients with suspicious or positive findings on PET/CT or CT, SLNB followed by CLND or CLND was performed at the discretion of the surgeon. We defined LN dissection (LND) as SLNB and/or CLND. Results: With a median follow-up of 38 months (range, 6 to 138 months), the dominant pattern of failure was regional failure (17 of total 23 events, 74%) in the observation group (n = 56). Pathologic LN metastases were significant factor for poor regional failure-free survival (hazard ration [HR] = 3.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-10.33; p = 0.044) and overall survival (HR = 3.62; 95% CI, 1.02-12.94; p = 0.047) in multivariate analysis. In subgroup analysis for cN0 patients according to the preoperative PET/CT findings, LND group showed the better trend of LRFFS (log rank test, p = 0.192) and RFFS (p = 0.310), although which is not statistically significant. Conclusion: Observational approach on regional LNs on the basis of the PET/CT in patients with cutaneous melanoma of extremities showed the dominant regional failure pattern compared to upfront LND approach. To reveal regional lymph node status, SLND for cN0 patients may of importance in managing cutaneous melanoma patients.