A scoping review of sustainable strategies adopted in nuclear medicine

Introduction: Sustainable development is an approach that must be applied to all areas within healthcare, especially those in constant technological development, such as nuclear medicine. The aim of this study was to scope the literature to identify knowledge gaps in the sustainable development of the nuclear medicine field. Methods: The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews was employed. A search strategy was conducted in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science in December 2024 using Mesh terms and keywords related to sustainability development and nuclear medicine. Three independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full text. Four authors performed the data extraction and analysis. Results: A total of 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority originated from Spain, and most were published in 2022 and 2023. Studies were categorised by procedure type: 33.3 % focused on therapy, 9.7 % on PET imaging, 33.3 % on diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and 18.1 % on SPECT imaging. They were also categorised by location to include research conducted in hospital settings (n = 23), non-hospital settings (n = 8), both (n = 4) or none (n = 1). Reviewed studies implemented sustainability measures across the sustainability pillars: environmental (n = 30), economic (n = 12), and social (n = 9) pillars. Conclusion: This scoping review has highlighted the growing interest in sustainability, within the nuclear medicine field. Findings indicate that there is a strong emphasis on reducing environmental impact, with efforts such as waste minimisation, implementation of alternative discharge methods, and radionuclide extraction systems gaining popularity; however, further evidence is needed to understand the economic and social impact of nuclear medicine procedures. Implications for practice: The scoping review identified a range of strategies focused on mitigating the adverse impact on the environment and working towards efficient economic and social resources, to foster sustainable practices in nuclear medicine.</p

Ileosigmoid fistula and delayed ileal obstruction secondary to blunt abdominal trauma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Abdominal trauma is a source of significant mortality and morbidity. Bowel injury as a result of blunt abdominal trauma is usually evident within hours or days of the accident.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 38-year-old Caucasian Greek man presented with a subtle and delayed small bowel obstruction caused by a post-traumatic ileosigmoid fistula and ileal stricture four months after a road traffic accident.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Delayed occurrence of post-traumatic small bowel stricture and ileosigmoid fistula is an uncommon surgical emergency. General surgeons as well as emergency physicians should bear this manifestation in mind should a patient return to the hospital several weeks or even years after blunt abdominal trauma with symptoms or signs of bowel obstruction.</p

Multi-criteria decision analysis and cost-benefit analysis of alternative scenarios for the power generation sector in Greece

This paper examines four mutually exclusive scenarios for the expansion of the Greek electricity system developed by official authorities and representing alternative views on meeting electricity demand. The aim is to encompass all positive and negative side-effects characterizing the electricity generation technologies assumed to participate in each scenario and emphasis is given to the particular role of renewable energy sources which represent a major differentiating factor between them. The calculation of economic, technical and environmental performances of the examined scenarios for the year 2010 shows that electricity planning is a complicated task since improvements in one policy target are accompanied by losses in others. In order to resolve this conflict, the scenarios are comparatively evaluated with two decision support techniques, multicriteria decision analysis and cost-benefit analysis, which are capable of broadening the strict boundaries of a financial analysis while avoiding intuitive solutions that are often applied in practice. Following the two completely different evaluation approaches, it is confirmed that the scenario assuming the highest penetration of renewable energy sources is the best compromise configuration for the Greek power generation sector.Renewable energy Scenarios Electricity Multicriteria analysis Cost-benefit analysis

Early onset of prosthesis failure after aortic valve replacement

We report an unusual case of a 78-year-old male who underwent an aortic valve replacement with a 21 mm Labcor tissue porcine aortic valve due to symptomatic aortic stenosis of his native valve. Only 3 months after an uncomplicated postoperative course, on a routine follow-up, transthoracic echo showed restrictive motion of the non-coronary cusp, incomplete closure of the coaptation line and severe aortic regurgitation. The patient was scheduled for a new operation during which the previous prosthetic valve was explanted and a different model was used. </jats:p

EXOMIO: A 3D Simulator for External Beam Radiotherapy

Simulators are medical devices used in the oncology clinics to perform the simulation procedure for the external beam radiotherapy treatment. Unlikely for a clinic to obtain a real Simulator is a high investment in terms of money, space and personnel. The alternative here can be a Virtual Simulator (VS). The VS's are system-software that can perform the simulation process using the Computed Tomography (CT) data set of the patient, including the external patient s skin landmarks, instead of the physical patient. In this paper we present EXOMIO, a 3D-VS which supports high-end visualization techniques. As a result we can simulate every function of the real Simulator including component movement, light field projection and fluoroscopy. Further more we can provide the physicians with ergonomic volume definition and navigation tools