An efficient postprocessing method to compensate for the scattering and blurring effects in inhomogeneous medium in SPECT is proposed. A two-dimensional point spread function (2D-PSF) was estimated in the image domain to model the combination of these two physical effects. This 2D-PSF in the inhomogeneous medium is fitted with an asymmetric Gaussian function based on Monte Carlo simulation resu...

In a two-step strategy, an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) micelles containing paclitaxel (PTX), cyclopamine (CYP), and gossypol (GSP) at 30, 30, and 30 mg/kg, respectively, debulked tumor tissues by 1.3-fold, based on loss of bioluminescence with <10% body weight change, and induced apoptosis in peritoneal tumors when used as neoad...

Coronary artery imaging with multi-slice helical computed tomography is a promising noninvasive imaging technique. The current major issues include the insufficient temporal resolution and large patient dose. We propose an image reconstruction method which provides a solution to both of the problems. The method uses an iterative approach repeating the following four steps until the difference b...

Over the course of the last two decades, myocardial perfusion with Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) has emerged as an established and well-validated method for assessing myocardial ischemia, viability, and function. Gated-SPECT imaging integrates traditional perfusion information along with global left ventricular function. Despite of these advantages, inherent limitations of ...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) simulators have been largely applied to brain studies. However, cardiac applications of these simulators are only emerging. This paper focuses on the realistic simulation of local appearance of cardiac MRI datasets. Simulations are obtained from the MRISIM simulator with XCAT phantom (formerly NCAT) as input. Phantoms are further extended to increase realism of ...

PolICy baCkgRound Earlier diagnosis of symptomatic cancer has become increasingly recognised as holding the key to better cancer outcomes. Many Western governments have prioritised actions to achieve earlier diagnosis of cancer. England revised its cancer policy in 2007 to address this, with a National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI) to drive forward research, development, and ...

Simultaneous Tl-201/Tc-99m dual isotope myocardial perfusion SPECT is seriously hampered by down-scatter from Tc-99m into the Tl-201 energy window. This paper presents and optimises the ordered-subsets-expectation-maximisation-(OS-EM-) based reconstruction algorithm, which corrects the down-scatter using an efficient Monte Carlo (MC) simulator. The algorithm starts by first reconstructing the T...

The levels and composition of agricultural dusts are influenced by animal species, production strategy, housing type and ventilation efficiency. Agricultural dust within animal houses is complex and consists of feed particles, microbes and their products, dander, fecal matter, gases, metals and other organic and inorganic components. Livestock and poultry production facilities may be categorize...

We have developed a general-purpose Monte Carlo simulation code, called penMesh, that combines the accuracy of the radiation transport physics subroutines from PENELOPE and the flexibility of a geometry based on triangle meshes. While the geometric models implemented in most general-purpose codes--such as PENELOPE's quadric geometry--impose some limitations in the shape of the objects that can ...

The Statistical Properties of (Asphalt) Mixtures December 2016 Saeed Maghsoodloo and Randy West National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), Auburn University, AL 36849 Abstract In the design of asphalt paving mixtures, aggregates from n stockpiles (generally n = 2, 3, 4, ..., 10) are blended at selected proportions to satisfy specified gradation ranges and other criteria. The mean and varian...