68 Ga-DOTATATE and 68 Ga-FAPI Imaging in Neuroendocrine Neoplasms of Different Grades.

ABSTRACT: We report findings from 68 Ga-DOTATATE and 68 Ga-FAPI PET/CT in a 43-year-old woman with neuroendocrine neoplasms. DOTATATE and FAPI uptake differed in different lesions. These results suggest a potential value for dual-tracer imaging in the evaluation of neuroendocrine neoplasms that have different grades.

Tissue equivalent conversion of silicon-based microdosemeters in hadron therapy.

Silicon has been developed as a microdosemeter, as it can provide sensitive volumes at submicrometric levels, does not need a gas supply, has a fast response, and has low power consumption. However, since the energy response in silicon is not the same as that in tissue, a spectral conversion from silicon to tissue is necessary to obtain the probability distribution of energy deposition in tissue. In this work, we present a method for microdosimetric spectra conversion from silicon to tissue based on the scaled Fourier transformation and the geometric scaling factor, which shows relatively good results in the spectral conversion from diamond to tissue. The results illustrate that the method can convert the energy deposition spectra from silicon to tissue with proper accuracy. Meanwhile, the inconsistency between the converted and actual spectra due to the inherent difference was also observed. Whereas, the reasons for the disagreement are different. For the plateau part of the Bragg curve, the discrepancy between the converted and actual spectra is due to the poor tissue equivalent of silicon. For the proximal part of the Bragg curve, the spectral difference is attributed to the different shapes of the energy deposition spectra obtained in silicon and water, which is the same as that in the diamond. In summary, this method can be employed in the tissue equivalent conversion of silicon microdosemeter, but the poor tissue equivalent of silicon limited the accuracy of this method. In addition, the correction for the deviation between the converted and calculated spectra due to the difference in spectral shapes is required to improve the practicality of this mod.

Design and evaluation of 32P-labeled hydroxyapatite nanoparticles for bone tumor therapy.

The clinical diagnosis and treatment of malignant bone tumors are still major clinical challenges due to their high incidence are difficulty. Targeted therapies have become a critical approach to treat bone tumors. In recent years, radiopharmaceuticals have been used widely and have shown potent and efficient results in treating bone tumors, among which 32P and the labeled radiopharmaceuticals play an essential role. In this study, the 32P-labeled hydroxyapatite (HA) was prepared through chemical synthesis (32P-Hap) and physical adsorption (32P-doped-Hap). The in vitro stability of 32P-labeled HA was analyzed to assess the superiority of the new-found chemical synthesis. The radiolabeling yield and stability of chemical synthesis (97.6 ± 0.5%) were significantly improved compared with physical adsorption (92.7 ± 0.4%). Furthermore, the CT results corroborate that 32P-Hap (100 µCi) +DOX group has the highest tumor suppression rate and can effectively reduce bone destruction. The results corroborate the effectiveness of the chemical synthesis and validate the application of 32P-Hap in bone tumors. Therefore, 32P-Hap (100 µCi) + DOX may be an effective strategy for bone metastasis treatments.

Optimized low-dose positron emission tomography/computed tomography schemes in pediatric tumor patients: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: It's clinically relevant to reduce the radiation dose to children while ensuring their positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) image quality. The optimal protocol for whole-body PET/CT imaging in children (non-model) has been less studied. In this study, we investigated the optimal protocol for PET/CT imaging of pediatric oncology by analyzing the radiation dose and image quality in18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT imaging of children with oncology. Methods: One hundred children with tumors who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT were included. CT grouping: randomly divided into 18 groups A-R according to the combination of three parameters: tube voltage (80/120 kV), automatic milliamp range (20-39/40-59/60-80 mA), and noise index (NI) (8/12/14). PET grouping: randomly divided into 9 groups a-i according to the combination of two parameters: the pharmaceuticals injection dose (0.08/0.12/0.15 mCi/kg) and time per bed (120/150/180 s). The effective radiation dose (ED) was calculated separately for each group and the image quality of CT and PET was evaluated subjectively using standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) objective evaluation and 5-point evaluation method, respectively. Results: Ninety-seven images in CT and 57 images in PET were included. The best quality of CT images was in group K (120 kV/40-59 mA/8); there are 9 groups had good image quality and lower dose length product (DLP) than group K (SD ±10), while the difference in DLP between groups was large. The Kruskal-Wallis (K-W) test showed that the difference in image quality between the 9 groups was not statistically significant. The best PET image quality was in group i [0.15 (mCi/kg)/180 s]; there are four groups had good image quality and lower EDPET than group i (CV ±3.5%), while the difference in EDPET between groups was large (4.4-6.5 mSv), and the K-W test showed that the difference in image quality between the four groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05), with the lowest EDPET being in the g group. Conclusions: The optimal protocols for CT scanning and PET imaging in this experiment were group H (80 kV/40-59 mA/14) and group g [0.08 (mCi/kg)/180 s], respectively.Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200061386.

A method for converting microdosimetric spectra in diamond to tissue in proton therapy.

PURPOSE: Diamond has been regarded as a promising microdosimeter in radiation protection and radiotherapy due to its excellent properties. However, as the diamond is not tissue equivalent, a conversion of the measured spectra in the diamond microdosimeter to the tissue site is needed. In this work, we intend to deduce a method for converting the microdosimetric spectra from diamond to tissue in the proton therapy application based on the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation and investigate the validity of this method in spectral conversion. METHODS: The comparison of stopping power and energy deposition distribution of diamond and tissue shows that the conversion of the spectra in diamond to tissue can be performed by a simple scaling factor. Therefore, the equivalence of the energy deposition spectra in the diamond microdosimeter and a tissue site of the same size in the same radiation field was studied first to obtain the scaling factor. Then, the spectra conversion method was derived from the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation and the scaling factor. The Geant4 simulation was employed to settle this study. RESULTS: Theoretical and Geant4 simulation results indicate that the linear stopping power ratio of diamond to tissue is adequate to convert the microdosimetric spectra in diamond to tissue of identical dimension. The conversion results indicate that the energy deposition spectra converted from diamond to bone agree well with the spectra calculated by Geant4 along the Bragg curve. As for water, a good agreement of the converted and calculated spectra was found at the plateau of the Bragg curve and the distal part of the Bragg peak. At the proximal part of the Bragg peak, the converted and calculated spectrum is poorly coincident. CONCLUSIONS: The method of the energy deposition spectra conversion from the diamond microdosimeter to the tissue site of equal size shows relatively good results in most situations. But the deficiency was also found. Therefore, further investigation is needed to improve the reliability of this method.

Study of particle transport and gas amplification mechanism in proportional counters.

Gas amplification is an essential feature of the proportional counter. The Boltzmann equation and the Townsend ionization coefficient are introduced to describe the behavior of electrons and the gas amplification in proportional counters, respectively. However, it is difficult to solve the Boltzmann equation completely and to obtain the critical radius at which electron avalanche begins. Therefore, we try to employ the Continuity equation and the linear stopping power to derive the distribution of particles and the critical radius. The space charge effect was also investigated to understand its influence on the gas amplification of the proportional counter. Finally, the gas amplification was calculated based on the classical theory of electron transport. The results indicate that the theoretical value is in good agreement with the experimental data. This means that the continuity equation and the linear stopping power can be used to depict the particle transport and gas amplification mechanism in proportional counters.

Counting-loss correction for X-ray spectra using the pulse-repairing method.

Facing the technical problem of pulse distortion caused by frequent resetting in the latest high-performance silicon drift detectors, which work under high-counting-rate conditions, a method has been used to remove false peaks in order to obtain a precise X-ray spectrum, the essence of which eliminates distorted pulses. Aiming at solving the problem of counting-loss generated by eliminating distorted pulses, this paper proposes an improved method of pulse repairing. A 238Pu source with activity of 10 mCi was used as the measurement object, and the energy spectrum obtained by the pulse repairing method was compared with that obtained by the pulse elimination method. The ten-measurement results show that the pulse repairing method can correct the counting-loss caused by the pulse elimination method and increase peak area, which is of great significance for obtaining a precise X-ray energy spectrum.

A new method for removing false peaks to obtain a precise X-ray spectrum.

To get a precise X-ray energy spectrum from the latest high-performance silicon drift detector (fast SDD), a switch reset preamplifier circuit, which has a high signal to noise ratio and small ballistic loss, is used to amplify the weak signal transmitted by the detector. Aiming at the technical problem of fast SDD, which works at high-count rate conditions, we adopt a slow triangle shaping method and use switch reset type preamplifier, and a new method is put forward to remove the false peaks to obtain a precise X-ray spectrum, in essence, to eliminate the distorted pulses transmitted by the detector. 55Fe standard source and a certain kind of rock sample are regarded as measuring objects in the experiments. The spectral comparison figure, which contains the two measurement results of the pre and post elimination of the false peaks, respectively, shows that this method removes the false peaks located in the front of the full-energy peak in spectra and improves the peak-to-background ratio in a complex spectral analysis and the analytical precision of weak signals.

A novel gastroretentive porous microparticle for anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy: preparation, in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

Gastroretentive drug delivery system is a promising option for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, which can prolong gastric residence time and supply high drug concentration in the stomach. In the present study, a low density system of metronidazole-loaded porous Eudragit® RS microparticle with high drug loading capacity (>25%) was fabricated via electrospray method. The porous structure and size distribution of microparticles were affected by polymer concentration and flow rate of solution. FTIR and XRD analyses indicated that drug has been entrapped into the porous microparticles. In addition, sustained release profiles and slight cytotoxicity in vitro were detected. Gamma scintigraphy study in vivo demonstrated that ¹³¹I-labeled microparticles retained in stomach for over 8h, and about 65.50% radioactive counts were finally detected in the region of interest. The biodistribution study confirmed that hotspot of radioactivity was remaining in the stomach. Furthermore, metronidazole-loaded porous microparticles can eradicate H. pylori completely with lower dose and administration frequency of antibiotic compared with pure drug, which were also more helpful for the healing of mucosal damages. These results suggest that prepared porous microparticle has the potential to provide better treatment for H. pylori infection.