Zero-added-dose gastrointestinal film studies.

A technique is described to produce diagnostic quality 70 mm x 60 mm films of upper GI fluoroscopic examinations by photography of the video-displayed image on a "slave" monitor, obtained at a dose of 0.01 milligray (1 millirad) for a 20 cm water equivalent phantom. Because the photograph is the same image already being observed, the films require no added dose over that needed for an adequate fluoroscopic examination. Diagnostic films can be made from the replay of a videocassette recorder. With exposure times of 1/30th of a second, movement blur is easily prevented.

Videoteleconferencing: solving mobility and recruitment problems.

Many nurses and nursing students live far from the closest campus or health care agency that can provide basic or continuing education. Videoteleconferencing is one way to bridge this distance. As videoteleconferencing technologies become available and cost effective, nurse educators must be knowledgeable about their use. The authors explain telecommunications technologies of videoteleconferencing, identify advantages and disadvantages, and discuss planning, implementation, and evaluation for offering a program by videoteleconference.

[Use of digital technology in x-ray television imaging]. / Primenenie tsifrovoi tekhniki pri rentgenotelevizionnom prosvechivanii.

The questions of decreasing radiation loads in X-ray TV units due to application of digital means of storing X-ray TV images are considered. On the basis of the theoretical analysis of the spatial frequency, time and noise parameters of the X-ray image amplifiers the authors derived expressions relating the input ratio signal/noise of the USSR manufactured URI to the intensity of the X-ray radiation dose of the transformer input. It was established that under the pulse mode of the X-ray unit and storage in the digital memory of the TV unit signal to get the needed ratio signal/noise of the output videosignal (37 dB) it is quite enough to secure on the transformer input the value of the X-ray radiation dose of 15 microR. The functional scheme of the digital unit operating in pulse and pseudodynamic modes of X-ray diagnostic units is outlined.

Television choledochoscopy.

Present techniques of intraoperative cholangiography and choledochoscopy have not completely solved the problem of the common bile duct stone that is missed. Televised choledochoscopy provides an improved imaging technique which should facilitate stone retrieval. A similar television endoscopic technique has already become standard among orthopedic surgeons performing diagnostic and therapeutic arthroscopy. This equipment can be shared by surgeons specializing in orthopedic or general surgery.

Studies on the role of Ca++ in cell division with the use of fluorescent probes and quantitative video intensification microscopy.

It is clear that QVIM systems, when combined with appropriate fluorescent probes can be utilized to perform quantitative cytochemical studies on living and fixed cells. They also have the potential to facilitate studies of substances which like Ca++ are not easily studied by other means. The preliminary studies we have described support the idea that calcium ions and calcium transport enzymes may indeed play important roles in cell division and indicate that the tools we have at hand should help us further our understanding of the mitotic process.

Patient movements during radiotherapy.

A system using closed-circuit television has been developed to enable the measurement of patient movements to an accuracy of 1 mm during external beam radiotherapy. The circuitry is under the control of a microcomputer, which records the movement data on magnetic tape for later analysis. The results indicate that patients mostly remain within 1 mm of their original set-up position on the treatment couch.