Investigation of Scatter and Septal Penetration in I-131 Imaging Using GATE Simulation / 의학물리

Scatter correction for I-131 plays a very important role to improve image quality and quantitation. I-131 has multiple and higher energy gamma-ray emissions. Image quality and quantitative accuracy in I-131 imaging are degraded by object scatter as well as scatter and septal penetration in the collimator. The purpose of this study was to estimate scatter and septal penetration and investigate two scatter correction methods using Monte Carlo simulation. The gamma camera system simulated in this study was a FORTE system (Phillips, Nederland) with high energy, general-purpose, parallel hole collimator. We simulated for two types of high energy collimators. One is composed of lead, and the other is composed of artificially high Z number and high density. We simulated energy spectrum using a point source in air. We estimated both full width at half maximum (FWHM) and full width at tenth maximum (FWTM) using line spread function (LSF) in cylindrical water phantom. We applied two scatter correction methods, triple energy window scatter correction (TEW) and extended triple energy window scatter correction (ETEW). The TEW method is a pixel-by pixel based correction which is easy to implement clinically. The ETEW is a modification of the TEW which corrects for scatter by using abutted scatter rejection window, which can overestimate or the underestimate scatter. The both FWHM and FWTM were estimated as 41.2 mm and 206.5 mm for lead collimator, respectively. The FWHM and FWTM were estimated as 27.3 mm and 45.6 mm for artificially high Z and high density collimator, respectively. ETEW showed that the estimation of scatter components was close to the true scatter components. In conclusion, correction for septal penetration and scatter is important to improve image quality and quantitative accuracy in I-131 imaging. The ETEW method in scatter correction appeared to be useful in I-131 imaging.

Estimation and Application of HU Values for Various Materials as Function of Physical Factor / 의학물리

This study aims to evaluate CT (Computed Tomography) characteristics through the estimation of HU (Hounsfield Unit) and the corresponding variations using coefficient of variation values for various materials as a function of physical factor. HU values for various materials with varying densities as a function of physical factor were measured using MDCT (Siemens SOMATOM Sensation 4, Germany). The results showed that the HU values were decreased and increased as a function of kVp and material density, respectively. Especially, the HU values for bone and iodine at 140 kVp were 32% and 42% smaller than those at 80 kVp, respectively. In case of iodine, the HU values also decreased and increased as a function of kVp and concentration, respectively. While the HU values were fixed as a function of mAs. The decreased ratio of HU values between 80 keV and 140 keV was different at various concentration and maximum difference was shown as 1.73 at 3% concentration. These results indicated that it may be possible to separate composition of materials, e.g. iodine and bone, using single source CT. The results showed that dual energy techniques using single source CT can be applied to material separation and expand CT imaging techniques to other practical applications.

Estimation and Application of HU Values for Various Materials as Function of Physical Factor / 의학물리

This study aims to evaluate CT (Computed Tomography) characteristics through the estimation of HU (Hounsfield Unit) and the corresponding variations using coefficient of variation values for various materials as a function of physical factor. HU values for various materials with varying densities as a function of physical factor were measured using MDCT (Siemens SOMATOM Sensation 4, Germany). The results showed that the HU values were decreased and increased as a function of kVp and material density, respectively. Especially, the HU values for bone and iodine at 140 kVp were 32% and 42% smaller than those at 80 kVp, respectively. In case of iodine, the HU values also decreased and increased as a function of kVp and concentration, respectively. While the HU values were fixed as a function of mAs. The decreased ratio of HU values between 80 keV and 140 keV was different at various concentration and maximum difference was shown as 1.73 at 3% concentration. These results indicated that it may be possible to separate composition of materials, e.g. iodine and bone, using single source CT. The results showed that dual energy techniques using single source CT can be applied to material separation and expand CT imaging techniques to other practical applications.

Standardization of the Method of Measuring Average Glandular Dose (AGD) and Evaluation of the Breast Composition and Thickness for AGD / 의학물리

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among korean woman. Therefore, the early detection activities of breast cancer such as breast self-examinations, clinical breast examinations, mammography are important. A yearly mammography examination has been recommended for women aged 40 and older for the early detection of breast cancer in asymptomatic periods. However, the glandular tissue of breast is the most radiation-sensitive tissue, and the determination of average glandular dose (AGD) forms an important part of the quality control of the mammographic systems. Because of the difficulty of estimating AGD directly, it is often estimated from the measurements of the incident air kerma and by applying the appropriate conversion factors. The primary objective of this study was to standardize the method of measuring AGD. The secondary objective was to evaluate the relationships between AGD per various composition and thickness of the breast using Monte Carlo simulations. As a result, we standardized the method of measuring AGD according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines (CoP: an international code of practice). Overall, AGD for mammographic practice in Korea was less than 3.0 mGy recommended by the Korea Food and Drug Adminstration (KFDA) protocol, and Korean Institute for Accreditation of Medical Image (KIAMI). The measured and simulated AGD for a given condition were calculated as 1.7 and 1.6 mGy, respectively. For the AGDs obtained, there was no significant difference between them. The simulated AGD was dependent on the fraction of glandular tissue of the breast. The AGD increases with increasing of the breast glandularity due to increasing absorption of low energy photons. The AGD also increases as a function of breast thickness. In conclusion, the results of this study could be used as a baseline to establish a reference level of radiation dose in mammography.

Comparison of Radiation Dose in the Measurement of MDCT Radiation Dose according to Correction of Temperatures and Pressure, and Calibration of Ionization Chamber / 의학물리

This study aims to conduct the comparative analysis of the radiation dose according to before and after the calibration of the ionization chamber used for measuring radiation dose in the MDCT, as well as of CTDIW according to temperature and pressure correction factors in the CT room. A comparative analysis was conducted based on the measured MDCT (GE light speed plus 4 slice, USA) data using head and body CT dosimetric phantom, and Model 2026C electrometer (RADICAL 2026C, USA) calibrated on March 21, 2007. As a result, the CTDIW value which reflected calibration factors, as well as correction factors of temperature and pressure, was found to be the range of 0.479~3.162 mGy in effective radiation dose than the uncorrected values. Also, under the routine abdomen routine CT image acquisition conditions used in reference hospitals, patient effective dose was measured to indicate the difference of the maximum of 0.7 mSv between before and after the application of such factors. These results imply that the calibration of the ion chamber, and the correction of temperature and pressure of the CT room are crucial in measuring and calculating patient effective dose. Thus, to measure patient radiation dose accurately, the detailed information should be made available regarding not only the temperature and pressure of the CT room, but also the humidity and recombination factor, characteristics of X-ray beam quality, exposure conditions, scan region, and so forth.

Imaging Characteristics of Computed Radiography Systems / 의학물리

With recent advancement of the medical imaging systems and picture archiving and communication system (PACS), installation of digital radiography has been accelerated over past few years. Moreover, Computed Radiography (CR) which was well established for the foundation of digital x-ray imaging systems at low cost was widely used for clinical applications. This study analyzes imaging characteristics for two systems with different pixel sizes through the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) and Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE). In addition, influence of radiation dose to the imaging characteristics was also measured by quantitative assessment. A standard beam quality RQA5 based on an international electro-technical commission (IEC) standard was used to perform the x-ray imaging studies. For the results, the spatial resolution based on MTF at 10% for Agfa CR system with I.P size of 8x10 inches and 14x17 inches was measured as 3.9 cycles/mm and 2.8 cycles/mm, respectively. The spatial resolution based on MTF at 10% for Fuji CR system with I.P size of 8X10 inches and 14x17 inches was measured as 3.4 cycles/mm and 3.2 cycles/mm, respectively. There was difference in the spatial resolution for 14x17 inches, although radiation dose does not effect to the MTF. The NPS of the Agfa CR system shows similar results for different pixel size between 100 micrometer for 8x10 inch I.P and 150 micrometer for 14x17 inch I.P. For both systems, the results show better NPS for increased radiation dose due to increasing number of photons. DQE of the Agfa CR system for 8X10 inch I.P and 14x17 inch I.P resulted in 11% and 8.8% at 1.5 cycles/mm, respectively. Both systems show that the higher level of radiation dose would lead to the worse DQE efficiency. Measuring DQE for multiple factors of imaging characteristics plays very important role in determining efficiency of equipment and reducing radiation dose for the patients. In conclusion, the results of this study could be used as a baseline to optimize imaging systems and their imaging characteristics by measuring MTF, NPS, and DQE for different level of radiation dose.

ROC Analysis of Simulated Chest Lesions for Computed Radiography and Digital Radiography at Various Tube Voltages / 의학물리

Current digital radiographic systems are rapidly growing in clinical applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of computed radiography (CR) and digital radiography (DR) at different tube voltages in the detection of simulated chest lesions. Patterns of simulated interstitial lung disease, incipient infiltration, and nodules were superimposed over an anthropomorphic chest phantom. A simulated chest phantom radiograph was obtained with CR and DR at different tube voltages (70 kV, 90 kV, and 120 kV). A total of 18,000 observations were analyzed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The detection of all lesions showed higher Az values at 70 kV than 120 kV with CR. For the DR, mean Az values at 70 kV were higher than other tube voltages not all lesions but for micro-nodule interstitial lung disease, linear interstitial lung disease, and incipient infiltration. Based on these results, a clinical study should be performed to judge the use of suitable tube voltage according to the type of detector system and lesions.

Construction and Performance Evaluation of Digital Radiographic System / 의학물리

Current digital radiography systems are rapidly growing in clinical applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of a mobile digital radiographic system. The performance of the mobile DR system was evaluated by measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectrum (NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Measurements were made on a LISTEM Mobix-1000 generator and a Teleoptic PRA Alpha-R4000 detector. Imaging characteristics were measured for these two systems using the IEC-61267 defined RQA5 (kVp: 74, additional filtration: 21 mmAl) radiographic condition. The MTF at 10% was measured as 2.4 cycles/mm and the DQE(0) values for radiation exposure 0.19, 0.5, and 1.3 mR were measured as 54%, 55%, and 76%, respectively. The NPS curves gradually decreased at high spatial frequencies. This high DQE at low frequencies, may be useful for low frequency information. The results suggested that mobile DR system could be integrated with emergency ambulance system in teleradiologic imaging applications.

The Evaluation for Attenuation Map using Low Dose in PET/CT System / 의학물리

The current PET/CT system with high quality CT images not only increases diagnostic value by providing anatomic localization, but also shortens the acquisition time for attenuation correction than primary PET system. All commercially available PET/CT system uses the CT scan for attenuation correction instead of the transmission scan using radioactive source such as 137Cs, 68Ge. However the CT scan may substantially increase the patient dose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate quality of PET images reconstructed by CT attenuation map using various tube currents. In this study, images were acquired for 3D Hoffman brain phantom and cylindrical phantom using GE DSTe PET/CT system. The emission data were acquired for 10 min using phantoms after injecting 44.03 MBq of 18F-FDG. The CT images for attenuation map were acquired by changing tube current from 10 mA to 95 mA with fixed exposure time of 8 sec and fixed tube voltage of 140 kVp. The PET images were reconstructed using these CT attenuation maps. Image quality of CT images was evaluated by measuring SD (standard deviation) of cylindrical phantom which was filled with water and 18F-FDG solution. The PET images were evaluated by measuring the activity ratio between gray matter and white matter in Hoffman phantom images. SDs of CT images decrease by increasing tube current. When PET images were reconstructed using CT attenuation maps with various tube currents, the activity ratios between gray matter and white matter of PET images were almost same. These results indicated that the quality of the PET images using low dose CT data were comparable to the PET images using general dose CT data. Therefore, the use of low dose CT is recommended than the use of general dose CT, when the diagnostic high quality CT is not required. Further studies may need to be performed for other system, since this study is limited to the GE DSTe system used in this study.

Dose Measurements using Phantoms for Tube Voltage, Tube Current, Slice Thickness in MDCT / 의학물리

The purpose of this study was to measure and evaluate radiation dose for MDCT parameters. Patient dose for various combination of MDCT parameters were experimentally measured, using MDCT (GE light speed plus 4 slice, USA), model 2026C electrometer (RADICAL 2026C, USA), standard Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) head and body CT dosimetry phantoms. In clinical situations, for a typical abdominal scan performed with MDCT at 120 kVp, 180 mAs, 20 mm collimation, and a pitch of 0.75, CTDIw, CTDIvol were measured as 20.2 mGy, 26.9 mGy, respectively. When scan length is assumed as 271.3 mm, DLP and measured effective dose of the abdominal would be calculated as 729.1 mGy cm, 10.9 mSv, respectively.