Currently used in clinical practice beam rate changes have no significant effect on the reduction of clonogenic capacity of PNT1A cells in vitro

Background: Due to the lack of selectivity of ionizing radiation between normal and cancer cells, it is important to improve the existing radiation patterns. Lowering the risk of cancer recurrence and comfort during treatment are priorities in radiotherapy. Materials and methods: In the experiment we used dose verification to determine the irradiation time calculated by a treatment planning system for 6XFFF and 10XFFF beams. Cells cultured under standard conditions were irradiated with a dose of 2 Gy at different beam rates 400 MU/min, 600 MU/min, 800 MU/min, 1000 MU/min, 1400 MU/min,  1600 MU/min and 2400 MU/min using 6XFFF, 10XFFF and 6XFF beams. Results: The experiment was aimed at comparing the biological response of normal prostate cells after clinically applied radiation patterns. No statistically significant differences in the cellular response were observed. The wide range of beam rates as well as the beam profiles did not significantly affect cell proliferation. Conclusions: High beam rates, without significantly affecting the clonogenic capacity of cells, have an impact on the quality of patient's treatment. With the increasing beam rate the irradiation time is shortened, which has an important impact on patients’ health. This experiment can have a practical significance

The utility of 18F-FDG PET/CT in brain tumours diagnosis

Background: The purpose of the study was to discuss whether 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) study protocol should include brain imaging. Materials and methods: Analysis of international societies recommendations compared with the original data obtained in over 1000 consecutive torso and brain 18F-FDG PET/CT studies collected in 2010. Results: According to the international societies recommendations, the 18F-FDG should not be the radiotracer of choice considering the brain region PET/CT study. However, it can be performed as an additional brain imaging tool. Based on at least a 3-year follow-up, we detected 8 cases of suspicious brain findings and no primary lesion among over 1000 consecutive torso and brain 18F-FDG PET/CT scans performed in 2010. However, in 5 out of 8 patients, the brain lesion was the only metastasis detected, affecting further therapy. Conclusions: The 18F-FDG PET/CT study may help detect malignant brain lesions and, therefore, including brain region imaging into the study protocol should be considered.

Quality Assurance in Nuclear Medicine. Routine tests of quality control of scintillation planar cameras and SPECT and SPECT/CT systems

Regulacje prawne oraz zalecenia obligujące do tworzenia systemu kontroli jakości w medycynie nuklearnej mają na celu zapewnienie odpowiedniego poziomu jakości badań diagnostycznych. Podstawowe testy kontroli jakości są ważną częścią rutynowej pracy klinicznej. Celem niniejszej pracy jest przedstawienie procedur testów podstawowych kontroli jakości dla planarnych kamer scyntylacyjnych oraz systemów SPECT i SPECT/CT.Regulations and recommendations that oblige to create a system of quality assurance in nuclear medicine, provide a sufficient level of quality diagnostic tests. The basic quality control tests are important part of routine clinical work. The aim of the work is to present quality control procedures for planar cameras and SPECT and SPECT/CT systems

Characterization and quality control of 2.5 MV beam in TrueBeam medical linear accelerator

Praca skupia się na charakterystyce oraz procesie kontroli jakości nowej, megawoltowej energii promieniowana, która została zaimplementowana w medycznym akceleratorze liniowym Varian TruBeam. Użycie wiązki promieniowania o efektywnym potencjale przyspieszającym 2,5 MV redukuje dawkę promieniowania, jaką otrzymuje pacjent w trakcie obrazowania o około 50% oraz zapewnia znacznie lepszą jakość obrazu. W celu kontroli jakości nowej energii promieniowania dokonano pełnej charakterystyki wiązki poprzez wyznaczanie procentowej dawki głębokościowej, pomiar profili i kalibrację mocy dawki, wykonano test Winstona-Lutza, a także oceniono jakość obrazowania z użyciem fantomu Leeds TOR 18FG. Wyznaczone parametry umożliwiły opracowanie protokół QA, które stosowane są w praktyce klinicznej.This work describes the characteristics and quality control process of the new megavoltage energy, which was implemented on the Varian TruBeam medical linear accelerator. New beam, generated by 2,5 MV nominal accelerating potential reduces the dose of radiation received by the patient during imaging process by 50% and provides better image quality. In order to control the quality of 2,5 MV beam, full beam characteristic was performed by measure a percent depth dose, beam profiles and outputs calibration, the Winston-Lutz test was performed. The image quality was evaluated using the Leeds TOR 18FG phantom was evaluated. The determined parameters allowed to develop QA protocol, which are used in clinical routine

Quality Assurance in Nuclear Medicine. Routine tests of quality control of PET and PET/CT systems

Jednym z warunków zapewnienia i utrzymania wysokiego poziomu jakości badań diagnostycznych w medycynie nuklearnej jest wykonywanie testów kontroli jakości zgodnie z zaleceniami i regulacjami prawnymi. Testy podstawowe kontroli jakości, będące jednym z elementów systemu kontroli jakości w zakładach medycyny nuklearnej, są nieodzowną częścią rutynowej pracy klinicznej. Niniejsza praca ma na celu przedstawienie procedur wykonywania testów podstawowych kontroli jakości dla skanerów PET i PET/CT.One of the conditions for ensuring and maintaining a high level of quality diagnostic exams in nuclear medicine is to perform quality control tests in accordance with legal recommendations and regulations. Basic quality control tests, which are one of the elements of the quality control system in nuclear medicine departments, are a very important part of routine clinical work. This work aims to present the procedures for performing basic quality control tests for PET and PET/CT scanners

Comparison of three different phantoms used for Winston-Lutz test with Artiscan software

BackgroundOne of the most important test in every quality assurances process of medical linear accelerators is the Winston-Lutz test, allowing an evaluation of the treatment isocentre in the light of uncertainty of the position of the collimator, the gantry and the couch.AimThe purpose of this work was analysis of the results of the Winston-Lutz test performed with three different phantoms for two different accelerators.Materials and methodsMeasurements were performed on two Varian machines: TrueBeam equipped with aS1200 EPID and TrueBeam equipped with aS1000 EPID. During the study three different phantoms dedicated for verification of the radiation isocentre were used: PTW Isoball, AQUILAB Isocentre Phantom and Varian Isocentre Cube. Analysis of the DICOM images was performed in Artiscan software.ResultsFor TrueBeam with as1200 EPID, gantry MV isocentre was about 0.18 mm larger for Varian Isocentre Cube than for two other phantoms used in this study. The largest variability of this parameter was observed for the couch. The results differed to 1.16 mm. For TrueBeam with as1000 EPID, results for collimator isocentre with PTW Isoball phantom were about 0.10 mm larger than for two other phantoms. For the gantry, results obtained with Varian Isocentre Cube were 0.21 mm larger.ConclusionThe obtained results for all three phantoms are within the accepted tolerance range. The largest differences were observed for treatment couch, which may be related to the phantom mobility during couch movement

Primary and Metastatic Brain Tumours Assessed with the Brain and Torso [18F]FDG PET/CT Study Protocol—10 Years of Single-Institutional Experiences

According to the international societies’ recommendations, the 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]FDG PET/CT) technique should not be used as the method of choice in brain tumour diagnosis. Therefore, the brain region can be omitted during standard [18F]FDG PET/CT scanning. We performed comprehensive literature research and analysed results from 14,222 brain and torso [18F]FDG PET/CT studies collected in 2010–2020. We found 131 clinically silent primary and metastatic brain tumours and 24 benign lesions. We concluded that the brain and torso [18F]FDG PET/CT study provides valuable data that may support therapeutic management by detecting clinically silent primary and metastatic brain tumours