• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.279-284
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• 2017

Pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS) is a rare and fatal disease that often mimics chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH); therefore, diagnosis of PAS is often delayed. Herein, a healthy 74-year-old man was presented with a 4-month history of dyspnea. Chest computed tomography showed wall thickening and stenosis in the main pulmonary artery as well as in both proximal pulmonary arteries. In order to differentiate between unusual CTEPH, vasculitis, and PAS, we performed right heart catheterization and pulmonary angiography. The mean pulmonary arterial pressure was 21 mmHg, and there was severe pulmonary artery stenosis. Thrombi on the pulmonary arterial wall lesions were observed in intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography. Furthermore, the patient had a history of deep vein thrombosis. Therefore, we diagnosed unusual CTEPH. After 6 months of rivaroxaban anticoagulation therapy, a chest X-ray revealed a left lower lobe lung mass, and a positron emission tomography later showed hypermetabolic lesions in the main pulmonary artery wall, in both pulmonary arteries walls, in the lung parenchyma, and in the bones. A biopsy of the right proximal humerus lesion revealed undifferentiated intimal sarcoma. Pulmonary sarcoma is rare, but should be considered when differentially diagnosing main pulmonary artery wall thickening and stenosis. A positron emission tomography may aid in this diagnosis.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.111-117
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• 2013

Purpose: To determine whether the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) of [$^{18}F$] fluorodeoxyglucose uptake by positron emission tomography (FDG PET) ratio of lymph node to primary tumor (mSUVR) could be a prognostic factor for node positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with definitive radiotherapy (RT). Materials and Methods: A total of 68 NSCLC T1-4, N1-3, M0 patients underwent FDG PET before RT. Optimal cutoff values of mSUVR were chosen based on overall survival (OS). Independent prognosticators were identified by Cox regression analysis. Results: The most significant cutoff value for mSUVR was 0.9 with respect to OS. Two-year OS was 17% for patients with mSUVR > 0.9 and 49% for those with mSUVR ${\leq}0.9$ (p = 0.01). In a multivariate analysis, including age, performance status, stage, use of chemotherapy, and mSUVR, only performance status (p = 0.05) and mSUVR > 0.9 (p = 0.05) were significant predictors of OS. Two-year OS for patients with both good performance (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] ${\leq}1$) and mSUVR ${\leq}0.9$ was significantly better than that for patients with either poor performance (ECOG > 1) or mSUVR > 0.9, 23% (71% vs. 23%, p = 0.04). Conclusion: Our results suggested that the mSUVR was a strong prognostic factor among patients with lymph node positive NSCLC following RT. Addition of mSUVR to performance status identifies a subgroup at highest risk for death after RT.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.25-37
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• 1999

positron annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy has been extensively applied in recent years to investigate the free volume in polymers owing to the capability of the electron-positron bound system (positronium) to probe the typical size of sub-nanometric cavities among the macromolecular chains. In this paper we show recent results obtained through this technique in some amorphous polymeric mem-branes(olyurethanes. PUs and polytrimethilsylilpropine PTMSP) after a brief survey of the general features of the annihilation process as well as of the experimental apparatus. Lifetime of o-ps decay({{{{ tau _3}}}}) in PUs increases going from sub {{{{ TAU _g}}}} to over {{{{ TAU _g}}}} temperatures following a sigmoid curve. The coefficient of dilatation of the free volume fraction is shown to be the sum of two contributes due to the variation with T of the number of holes and of their mean volume. PAL spectrum of PTMSP freshly prepared shows four lifetime components: {{{{ tau _3}}}} and {{{{ tau _4}}}}: only are useful for free volume study. Two kinds of holes of different equivalent radius are reported ({{{{ gamma _s}}}} 4.60 nm and {{{{ gamma _1}}}} 0.754) The equivalent volume does not change in a range of 100 K. however the physical aging increases density and decreases oxygen permeability while {{{{ gamma _s}}}} goes down to 0.374 and r1 to 0.735 The number of holes obtained from the intensities{{{{ IOTA _3}}}} and {{{{ IOTA _4}}}} of PAL spectra decreases with aging 21.7% and 3.5% for large and small holes respectively.

• 대한종양외과학회지
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.135-141
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• 2018

Purpose: Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) are important for staging of patients with node-positive breast cancer. However, these can be avoided in select micrometastatic diseases, preventing postoperative complications. The present study evaluated the ability of axillary lymph node maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) to predict axillary metastasis of breast cancer. Methods: The records of invasive breast cancer patients who underwent pretreatment (surgery and/or chemotherapy) PET-CT between January 2006 and December 2014 were reviewed. ALNs were preoperatively evaluated by PET-CT. Lymph nodes were dissected by SLNB or ALND. SUVmax was measured in both the axillary lymph node and primary tumor. Student t-test and chi-square test were used to analyze sensitivity and specificity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the ROC curve (AUC) analyses were performed. Results: SUV-tumor (SUV-T) and SUV-lymph node (SUV-LN) were significantly higher in the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) group than in other groups (SUV-T: 5.99, P<0.01; SUV-LN: 1.29, P=0.014). The sensitivity (0.881) and accuracy (0.804) for initial ALN staging were higher in fine needle aspiration+PET-CT than in other methods. For PET-CT alone, the subtype with the highest sensitivity (0.870) and negative predictive value (0.917) was TNBC. The AUC for SUV-LN was greatest in TNBC (0.797). Conclusion: The characteristics of SUV-T and SUV-LN differed according to immunohistochemistry subtype. Compared to other subtypes, the true positivity of axillary metastasis on PET-CT was highest in TNBC. These findings could help tailor management for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.100-113
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• 2019

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease characterized by noncaseating granulomas. Cardiac involvement is known to have poor prognosis because it can manifest as a serious condition such as the conduction abnormality, heart failure, ventricular arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death. Although early diagnosis and early treatment is critical to improve patient prognosis, the diagnosis of CS is challenging in most cases. Diagnosis usually relies on endomyocardial biopsy (EMB), but its diagnostic yield is low due to the incidence of patchy myocardial involvement. Guidelines for the diagnosis of CS recommend a combination of clinical, electrocardiographic, and imaging findings from various modalities, if EMB cannot confirm the diagnosis. Especially, the role of advanced imaging such as cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET), has shown to be important not only for the diagnosis, but also for monitoring treatment response and prognostication. CMR can evaluate cardiac function and fibrotic scar with good specificity. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in CMR shows a distinctive enhancement pattern for each disease, which may be useful for differential diagnosis of CS from other similar diseases. Effectively, T1 or T2 mapping techniques can be also used for early recognition of CS. In the meantime, PET can detect and quantify metabolic activity and can be used to monitor treatment response. Recently, the use of a hybrid CMR-PET has introduced to allow identify patients with active CS with excellent co-localization and better diagnostic accuracy than CMR or PET alone. However, CS may show various findings with a wide spectrum, therefore, radiologists should consider the possible differential diagnosis of CS including myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, amyloidosis, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Radiologists should recognize the differences in various diseases that show the characteristics of mimicking CS, and try to get an accurate diagnosis of CS.

• Brain Tumor Research and Treatment
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.47-53
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• 2018

Brain tumors represent a diverse spectrum of histology, biology, prognosis, and treatment options. Although MRI remains the gold standard for morphological tumor characterization, positron emission tomography (PET) can play a critical role in evaluating disease status. This article focuses on the use of PET with radiolabeled glucose and amino acid analogs to aid in the diagnosis of tumors and differentiate between recurrent tumors and radiation necrosis. The most widely used tracer is $^{18}F$-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Although the intensity of FDG uptake is clearly associated with tumor grade, the exact role of FDG PET imaging remains debatable. Additionally, high uptake of FDG in normal grey matter limits its use in some low-grade tumors that may not be visualized. Because of their potential to overcome the limitation of FDG PET of brain tumors, $^{11}C$-methionine and $^{18}F$-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (FDOPA) have been proposed. Low accumulation of amino acid tracers in normal brains allows the detection of low-grade gliomas and facilitates more precise tumor delineation. These amino acid tracers have higher sensitivity and specificity for detecting brain tumors and differentiating recurrent tumors from post-therapeutic changes. FDG and amino acid tracers may be complementary, and both may be required for assessment of an individual patient. Additional tracers for brain tumor imaging are currently under development. Combinations of different tracers might provide more in-depth information about tumor characteristics, and current limitations may thus be overcome in the near future. PET with various tracers including FDG, $^{11}C$-methionine, and FDOPA has improved the management of patients with brain tumors. To evaluate the exact value of PET, however, additional prospective large sample studies are needed.

• 대한방사성의약품학회지
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.99-103
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• 2021

In this study, the initial in vivo pharmacokinetic changes according to the routes of drug administration were investigated using bioimaging techniques. The purpose of this study was to quantify the degree of distribution of each major organ in normal mice over time by acquiring Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography images while administering routes F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose such as intravenous, intraperitoneal and per oral, a representative diagnostic radiopharmaceutical. Dynamic Positron Emission Tomography images were acquired for 90 minutes after drug administration. Radioactivity uptake was calculated for major organs using the PMOD program. In the case of intravenous administration, it was confirmed that it spread quickly and evenly to major organs. Compared to intravenous administration, intraperitoneal administration was about three times more absorbed and distributed in the liver and intestine, and it was showed that the amount excreted through the bladder was more than twice. In the case of oral administration, most stayed in the stomach, and it was showed that it spread slowly throughout the body. In comparison with intravenous administration, it was presented that the distribution of kidneys was more than 9 times and the distribution of bladder was 66% lower. Since there is a difference in the initial in vivo distribution and excretion of each administration method, we confirmed that the determination of the administration route is important for in vivo imaging evaluation of new drug candidates.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권6호
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• pp.2018-2025
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• 2023

In our previous study, we proposed an integrated PG-PET-based imaging method to increase the prediction accuracy for patient dose distributions. The purpose of the present study is to experimentally validate the feasibility of the PG-PET system. Based on the detector geometry optimized in the previous study, we constructed a dual-head PG-PET system consisting of a 16 × 16 GAGG scintillator and KETEK SiPM arrays, BaSO₄ reflectors, and an 8 × 8 parallel-hole tungsten collimator. The performance of this system as equipped with a proof of principle, we measured the PG and positron emission (PE) distributions from a 3 × 6 × 10 cm³ PMMA phantom for a 45 MeV proton beam. The measured depth was about 17 mm and the expected depth was 16 mm in the computation simulation under the same conditions as the measurements. In the comparison result, we can find a 1 mm difference between computation simulation and measurement. In this study, our results show the feasibility of the PG-PET system for in-vivo range verification. However, further study should be followed with the consideration of the typical measurement conditions in the clinic application.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.7-14
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• 2016

Radiopharmaceutical agents for positron emission tomography (PET), such as $^{18}F$-FDG and $^{68}Ga$, have been used not only for whole-body PET imaging but also for intraoperative radionuclide-guided surgery due to their quantitative and sensitive imaging characteristics. Current intraoperative probes detect gamma or beta particles, but not both of them. Gamma probes have low sensitivities since a collimator has to be used to reduce backgrounds. Positron probes have a high tumor-to-background ratio, but they have a 1-2 mm depth limitation from the body surface. Most of current intraoperative probes produce only audible sounds proportional to count rates without providing tumor images. This research aims to detect both positrons and annihilation photons from $^{18}F$ using plastic scintillators and a GAGG scintillation crystal attached to silicon photomultiplier (SiPM). The depth-of-interaction (DOI) along the plastic scintillator can be used to obtain the 2-D images of tumors near the body surface. The front and rear part of the intraoperative probe consists of $4{\times}1$ plastic scintillators ($2.9{\times}2.0{\times}12.0mm^3$) for positron detection and a Ce:GAGG scintillation crystal ($12.0{\times}12.0{\times}9.0mm^3$) for annihilation photon detection, respectively. The DOI resolution of $4.4{\pm}1.6mm$ along the plastic scintillator was obtained by using the 3M enhanced specular reflector (ESR) with rectangular holes between the plastic scintillators, which showed the feasibility of a 2-D image pixel size of $2.9{\times}4.4mm^2$ (X-direction ${\times}$ Y-direction).

• 한국진공학회지
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.250-256
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• 2013

양전자 소멸 분광법으로 발광 박막 시료에 3.0 MeV 에너지를 가진 양성자 빔을 $0.0{\sim}20.0{\times}10^{13}$ protons/$cm^2$의 조사에 의해 생성된 결함을 측정하여 박막구조 특성에 대하여 실험하였다. 동시 계수 도플러 넓어짐 양전자 소멸법 스펙트럼의 수리적 해석 방법인 S-변수를 사용하고, 양전자 수명 측정 방법에 의한 양전자 수명 ${\tau}_1$과 ${\tau}_2$, 이에 따른 세기 $I_1$과 $I_2$를 사용하여, 박막구조에 대한 결함 특성 변화를 측정하였다. 측정된 S-변수는 박막에 조사된 양성자의 빔 조사량에 따라 양성자가 빈자리에 포획되어 감소하는 값을 보였다. 양전자 수명 ${\tau}_1$은 증가하고, ${\tau}_2$은 일정한 값을 나타내었으나, 반면에 세기 $I_1$과 $I_2$는 큰 변화가 없었다. 그 이유는 양성자 조사 빔의 변화에 따라서 단일 빈자리의 크기는 증가하고, 다 결정체 알갱이 빈자리 때문에 양성자에 의한 다수의 빈자리 결함의 양은 큰 차이가 없기 때문이다. 그리고 Bragg 피크로 인하여 박막 시료의 특정 깊이에 결함을 형성하여 박막 전체의 결함으로 잘 나타나지 않기 때문으로 판단된다.