Positron-emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine functional imaging technique that is used to observe metabolic processes in the body as an aid to the diagnosis of disease. The system detects pairs of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radioligand, most commonly fluorine-18, which is introduced into the body on a biologically active molecule called a radioactive tracer. Different ligands are used for different imaging purposes, depending on what the radiologist/researcher wants to detect. Three-dimensional images of tracer concentration within the body are then constructed by computer analysis. In modern PET computed tomography scanners, three-dimensional imaging is often accomplished with the aid of a computed tomography X-ray scan performed on the patient during the same session, in the same machine.
A CT scan or computed tomography scan makes use of computer-processed combinations of many X-ray measurements taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional (tomographic) images of specific areas of a scanned object, allowing the user to see inside the object without cutting. The 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Allan M. Cormack and Godfrey N. Hounsfield "for the development of computer assisted tomography."
Medical physics is, in general, the application of physics concepts, theories, and methods to medicine or healthcare. Medical physics departments may be found in hospitals or universities.
Medical imaging is the technique and process of creating visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to reveal internal structures hidden by the skin and bones, as well as to diagnose and treat disease. Medical imaging also establishes a database of normal anatomy and physiology to make it possible to identify abnormalities. Although imaging of removed organs and tissues can be performed for medical reasons, such procedures are usually considered part of pathology instead of medical imaging.
Tomography is imaging by sections or sectioning, through the use of any kind of penetrating wave. The method is used in radiology, archaeology, biology, atmospheric science, geophysics, oceanography, plasma physics, materials science, astrophysics, quantum information, and other areas of science. The word tomography is derived from Ancient Greek τόμος tomos, "slice, section" and γράφω graphō, "to write". A device used in tomography is called a tomograph, while the image produced is a tomogram.
The Hounsfield scale, named after Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, is a quantitative scale for describing radiodensity. It is frequently used in CT scans, where its value is also termed CT number.
Electron beam tomography (EBT) is a specific form of computed tomography (CT) in which the X-ray tube is not mechanically spun in order to rotate the source of X-ray photons. This different design was explicitly developed to better image heart structures which never stop moving, performing a complete cycle of movement with each heart beat.
Tomographic reconstruction is a type of multidimensional inverse problem where the challenge is to yield an estimate of a specific system from a finite number of projections. The mathematical basis for tomographic imaging was laid down by Johann Radon. A notable example of applications is the reconstruction of computed tomography (CT) where cross-sectional images of patients are obtained in non-invasive manner. Recent developments have seen the Radon transform and its inverse used for tasks related to realistic object insertion required for testing and evaluating computed tomography use in airport security.
Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) is a medical technique that measures bone mineral density (BMD) using a standard X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scanner with a calibration standard to convert Hounsfield Units (HU) of the CT image to bone mineral density values. Quantitative CT scans are primarily used to evaluate bone mineral density at the lumbar spine and hip.
Willi A. Kalender is a German Medical Physicist and Professor and Chairman of the Institute of Medical Physics of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) and of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM).
Terahertz tomography is a class of tomography where sectional imaging is done by terahertz radiation. Terahertz radiation is electromagnetic radiation between 0.1 and 10THz, and its frequency is between radio waves and light waves, millimeter waves and infrared rays. Due to the characteristics of high frequency and short wavelength, terahertz wave has a high time domain spectrum signal to noise ratio. Tomography is a technique for imaging through slices or slices using any type of penetrating wave. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of terahertz combined with tomography to image opaque samples in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum. Since the first successful implementation of terahertz wave tomography in 1997, Terahertz wave 3D imaging technology has developed rapidly, and a series of new 3D imaging technologies have been proposed successively.
CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) is a medical diagnostic test that employs computed tomography (CT) angiography to obtain an image of the pulmonary arteries. Its main use is to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE). It is a preferred choice of imaging in the diagnosis of PE due to its minimally invasive nature for the patient, whose only requirement for the scan is an intravenous line.
Image-guided radiation therapy is the process of frequent two and three-dimensional imaging, during a course of radiation treatment, used to direct radiation therapy utilizing the imaging coordinates of the actual radiation treatment plan. The patient is localized in the treatment room in the same position as planned from the reference imaging dataset. An example of IGRT would include localization of a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) dataset with the planning computed tomography (CT) dataset from planning. IGRT would also include matching planar kilovoltage (kV) radiographs or megavoltage (MV) images with digital reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) from the planning CT. These two methods comprise the bulk of IGRT strategies currently employed circa 2013.
Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) is an X-ray exposure termination device. A medical radiography x-ray exposure is always initiated by a human operator but an AEC detector system may be used to terminate the exposure when a predetermined amount of radiation has been received. The intention of AEC is to provide consistent x-ray image exposure, whether to film, a digital detector or a CT scanner. AEC systems may also automatically set exposure factors such as the X-ray tube current and voltage.
Cone beam computed tomography is a medical imaging technique consisting of X-ray computed tomography where the X-rays are divergent, forming a cone.
Coronary CT angiography (CTA) is the use of computed tomography (CT) angiography to assess the coronary arteries of the heart. The subject receives an intravenous injection of radiocontrast and then the heart is scanned using a high speed CT scanner, allowing physicians to assess the extent of occlusion in the coronary arteries, usually in order to diagnose coronary artery disease.
The problem of reconstructing a multidimensional signal from its projection is uniquely multidimensional, having no 1-D counterpart. It has applications that range from computer-aided tomography to geophysical signal processing. It is a problem which can be explored from several points of view—as a deconvolution problem, a modeling problem, an estimation problem, or an interpolation problem.
Proton Computed Tomography (pCT), or Proton CT, is an imaging modality first proposed by Cormack in 1963 and initial experiment explorations identified several advantages over conventional x-ray CT (xCT). However, particle interactions such as multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) and (in)elastic nuclear scattering events deflect the proton trajectory, resulting in nonlinear paths which can only be approximated via statistical assumptions, leading to lower spatial resolution than X-ray tomography. Further experiments were largely abandoned until the advent of proton radiation therapy in the 1990s which renewed interest in the topic due to the potential benefits of imaging and treating patients with the same particle.
X-ray computed tomography operates by using an X-ray generator that rotates around the object; X-ray detectors are positioned on the opposite side of the circle from the X-ray source.
Spectral imaging is an umbrella term for energy-resolved X-ray imaging in medicine. The technique makes use of the energy dependence of X-ray attenuation to either increase the contrast-to-noise ratio, or to provide quantitative image data and reduce image artefacts by so-called material decomposition. Dual-energy imaging, i.e. imaging at two energy levels, is a special case of spectral imaging and is still the most widely used terminology, but the terms "spectral imaging" and "spectral CT" have been coined to acknowledge the fact that photon-counting detectors have the potential for measurements at a larger number of energy levels.
