Positron Emission Tomography Analysis

The photons are then tracked by a tomographic scintillation counter, and the information is processed by a computer to provide both image and data on blood flow and metabolic processes within bodily tissues. PET scans are particularly useful for diagnosing brain tumor and the effects of strokes on the brain, along with various mental illnesses. They are also used in brain research and in mapping of brain functions.

     The brain function being studied during a PET scan determines which positron-emitting radiopharmaceutical is used. Oxygen-15 can be used to label oxygen gas for the study of oxygen metabolism, carbon monoxide for the study of blood volume, or water for the study of blood flow in the brain. Similarly, fluorine-18 can be attached to a glucose molecule to produce 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) for use in the observation of the brain’s sugar metabolism.

During the last decade, major progress has been made in the treatment of disease with radioisotopes. Treatments involving the use of medical isotopes are gaining momentum in the race against many types of cancer. FDA approved and highly promising therapies are doubling every 3 to 4 years. Some researchers predict that over 80% of cancer types should be treatable with

The records have been reviewed. The member is an adult female with a birth date of 06/13/1961. She has a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, other dementia. Her treating provider, David S. Knopman, MD, recommended that she have a fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan, which was performed on 01/26/2016.

The nuclear medicine technologist use radionuclides to diagnose and treat diseases. Radionuclides means unstable atoms that release radiation spontaneously and they are purified and compounded to form radiopharmaceuticals that prepare and administer by nuclear medicine technologist. These technologists are particularly specialized health care professional. The radioactive drugs appear higher or lower concentration in the abnormal area of the patient’s body than in the normal area.

Issue: In medicine, radioisotopes are bonded with chemical compounds to form radioactive tracers, which are then injected into the patient’s bloodstream. The radiation emitted by the tracers allows doctors to obtain images of organ systems, facilitating the early and accurate diagnosis of disease. However, to avoid radio- active contamination, care must be taken in the storage, use, and disposal of this material.

Technetium-99m is a widely used radioactive tracer isotope in Nuclear Medicine. Its gamma ray energy of about 140 keV is convenient for detection. The fact that both its physical half-life and its biological half-life are very short leads to very fast clearing from the body after an imaging process. A further advantage is that the gamma is a single energy, not accompanied by beta emission, and that permits more precise alignment of imaging detectors.

Keywords: Positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, bioluminescent, fluorescence

Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) scan is a medical test that allows doctors to check the human body for any diseases. Doctors use the PET scan for many things, the main uses are checking for cancer, heart-related (Cardiovascular) diseases and brain (neurological) diseases. It also allows doctors to check organs and tissues and to see how they are working. PET scanners are a way of tracking diseases, using radioactive tracking that is injected into a vein in your arm, that is then absorbed by your organs and tissues.

The human body tissues fall into four major radiodensities; air which appears black, fat which appears gray/black, water which appears gray, and bone which appears white (McKinnis, 2014; Smith, n.d.). Air has the least radiodensity of all body structures, therefore is the most radiolucent on a radiograph (McKinnis, 2014; Lowe, n.d.; Stokell, n.d.). The lucency of air provides contrast to allow visualization of various structures, such as the heart and great vessels outlined against the air-filled lungs in the chest (Lowe, n.d.; Stokell, n.d.). An example is seen on a chest X-ray, where the abnormal appearance of air is seen is conditions such as pneumothorax, esophageal hiatal hernias, and pulmonary abscesses. Fat is more radiodense or opaque then air, but more lucent than bone or soft tissue (McKinnis, 2014; Lowe, n.d.; Stokell,

Radiotracers help doctors diagnose and evaluate the degree of severity of the disease. The tracers are injected, swallowed, or inhaled. Special cameras used by the doctor to detect molecular information then detect the emissions from the radiotracers. One of the most important procedures in nuclear medicine is the MRI, or the magnetic resonance

The Pico-aqua scintillating mixture is composed of substances able to transform the fluorescent β radiation emitted by 14C, which is then detected by the photomultipliers of the scintillator and expressed as the "counts per minute" (cpm). The radioactivity produced by the substrate transport within the liposomes (cpm active) is determined by subtracting the cpm value of the control to that of the corresponding test; the cmp correct values performed in duplicate are averaged.

Iodine is create in a cyclotron by proton irradiation of xenon in a capsule. Iodine-123 gives a lower radiation dose to the patient and the gamma ray energy of 159 keV that suited with gamma camera than I-131. Then, tissue will be effectively penetrate without excessive radiation dose by gamma ray. It have been labelled by using I-123 and the number will be increase.

In 2007, it is predicted that almost 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States (Pickle et al., 2007). More than half of these cancer patients will undergo the use of radiation as a means for treating cancer at some point during the course of their disease (Perez and Brady, 1998). Cancer, a disease caused by an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells, affects millions of people around the world. Radiotherapy is one of the well known various methods used to treat cancer, where high powered rays are aimed directly at the tumor from the outside of the body as external radiation or an instrument is surgically placed inside the body producing a result of internal radiation. Radiation is delivered to the cancerous regions of the body to damage and destroy the cells in that area, terminating the rapid growth and division of the cells. Radiation therapy has been used by medicine as a treatment for cancer from the beginning of the twentieth century, with its earliest beginnings coming from the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. With the advancements in physics and computer programming, radiation had greatly evolved towards the end of the twentieth century and made the radiation treatment more effective. Radiation therapy is a curative treatment approach for cancer because it is successful in killing cancerous tumor cells and stop them from regenerating.

The use of radioactive elements in medicine is still growing to this day. Many oncologists use it to treat their patients who have cancer. Many cancer patients use this option. They use the radiation to kill off cancer cells. X-ray technicians or radiologists will also use it to administer x-rays to people who may have a broken bone, or need an MRI. The patient is injected with a radioactive material that helps the doctor be able to see inside the body better, whether it be with pictures or ultrasound. Radioactive material is defined as “material that contains radioactivity and thus emits ionizing radiation. It may be material that contains natural radioactivity from the environment or a material that may have been made radioactive.” (The Healthy Physics Society). This happens when someone needs a colonoscopy. They have to drink or are injected with this liquid that helps their organs and all other masses in the body be seen better by the radioactive materials.