The case that was submitted by Andre Gajadhar is about managing radiation dose to patients in Nuclear Medicine while maintaining imaging quality.
Maintaining diagnostic
image quality while
managing radiation dose
Andre Gajadhar
NCRHA
Trinidad and Tobago
Andre Gajadhar
NCRHA
Trinidad and Tobago
The image quality was not the same when using a HDP dose of 4 mCi instead of 20, but a proper diagnosis was still possible.”
–– Andre Gajadhar – Technologist
NCRHA, Trinidad and Tobago
Clinical and patient background
The subject was a 60-year old male with a history of prostate cancer, high PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) level and lesion, as seen on a CT scan of the L4-L5 vertebral bodies.
Dose management methods and techniques that were used
The patient was given 4 mCi of HDP and an imaging time of 13cm/min at 3 years post injection with flushing of the syringe 3 times, using the patient’s own blood.
Conclusions and results
The image quality was not the same as when using an HDP dose of 20 mCi, but a proper diagnosis was still possible.
Discussion of case outcome(s) and future implications
A lower dose can be used, but a minimum of 10 mCi should be used, instead of 20 mCi for adults – with an increase in scan time of about 50-60%.
Managing radiation dose and image quality
Andre Gajadhar describes managing radiation dose to patients in Nuclear Medicine with adequate image quality.
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