Functional And Molecular Imaging Flashcards

1
Q

What is functional imaging

A

Mapping in 3D the distribution of tumour, tissue or functional feature

Provide information about the clinical response of tumours or healthy tissues to ionising radiation

Usually means NUCLEAR MEDICINE: PET/SPECT

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2
Q

Types of functional imaging

A

PET/CT
SPECT/CT
MRI

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3
Q

Problems with CT based anatomical imaging

A

CT has a limited spatial resolution and sensitivity - cannot visual true extent of tumour
Often can’t resolve Mets or nodal involvement
Assumes uniform radiosensitivity

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4
Q

SPECT CT

A

Injection of gamma emitting radioisotopes
Uses a gamma camera
TC99 @stable state

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5
Q

PET/CT

A

Different radioactive decay than SPECT -> positron decay

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6
Q

MRI sequence types

A

T1 images - gross anatomy
T2 images - biological pathology
MRSI - Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging
DCE-MRI - Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI
DWI- Diffusion weighted mRI
Fast pulse sequences
Hyperpolarisation

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7
Q

What does nuclear medicine involve

A

Measure the distribution of a
radionuclide in the body
● Distribution of radionuclide or
radiopharmaceutical should
correlate with a biological
process
● Gamma camera

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8
Q

Half life

A

Need a half life that is not too long - otherwise patient will be radioactive for too long
Not too short- otherwise it can’t be tracked in imaging

Technetium - 99 is 6hr half life - the most appropriate

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9
Q

PET advantages

A

Compared to other nuclear med techniques:
Spatial resolution and quantification is better

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10
Q

PET problems

A

Coincidence measurement: scattered radiation and random coincidence

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11
Q

True coincidence

A

Coincidences simultaneously detected on both
detectors resulting from the same annihilation of a
positron and corresponding to the 511 keV energy
photons not having undergone any scatter

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12
Q

Scattered radiation

A

Photons from the same
annihilation
– Due to scattering the
assumption that the
annihilation took place on a
line joining the two detection
points is incorrect
– Energy of scattered photon
will be lower than 511 keV

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13
Q

Random coincidences

A

Photons emitted by different
annihilations but detected in
the same time window
– Background noise
– Reduced by lowering
coincidence time window
– Axial filters or septa

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14
Q

How to reduce random coincidences

A

Reducing time window
Using filters and collimator (however it may impact true coincidences)

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15
Q

SUV

A

Standard uptake value: index of tracer uptake that can be compared between subjects
Tu is the tumour uptake from the image
Q is the injected dose per unit mass of the patient

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16
Q

Cyclotron

A

Accelerate protons -> throw at targets -> creates radioistopes
Tracer needs to be produced on site or close to PET centre - 6 hour travel time would require an initial activity of 2.8GBq

17
Q

Clinical applications of PET/CT

A

NSCLC
Nodal disease
Ventilation and perfusion: highlight blood flow and lung function

Hypoxia and glucose metabolism
– Hypoxic cells in tumours have an increased radioresistance (3x) and
chemo-resistance
F18 and FMISO can evaluate glucose metabolism and correlation for tumour hypoxia
However hypoxia is not the sole cause of increase in glucose metabolism observed in cancer cells *specific to tumour type

Breast cancer - bone + supraclav lns mets

18
Q

Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI)

A

dynamic contrast enhanced MRI
Sequential imaging following injection of a suitable para-magnetic contrast agent (Gd based)
Image the uptake and wash out of contrast agents
Can measure tissue perfusion and blood volume (T2) as well as extra vascular extra cellular space (T1)

19
Q

Diffusion Weighted MRI (DW-MRI)

A

Movement of water molecules in tissue is restricted as motion is limited by interactions with cell membranes and macro molecules
Tumours with high cellularity the motion of water is more restricted
Can be used to measure treatment response - can cause change in ADC due to cell swelling and necrosis

20
Q

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI)

A

magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging
Measures concentrations of hydrogen, phosphorus, fluorine and carbon - the image shows the distribution of these metabolites across the image
Measures changes in metabolism which indicate presence of ontological abnormalities

21
Q

Dynamic imaging

A

Fast sequences
Used for lung - to see motion of tumour

T2-weighted scans have long TR and are slower than
gradient echo T1-weighted sequences

● Single shot techniques can be used
○ Echo planar imaging - sub-second images

22
Q

Hyperpolarisation

A

can be used for lung function measurement - patient inhales hyperpolarised gas
Sensitivity of mRI can be increased using Hyperpolarisation
Nuclei are driven to a very high degree of polarisation, increasing the MR signal temporarily
This is not used clinically

23
Q

Clinical sites- Functional MRI

A

Brain
Lung
Prostae

24
Q

Role of contrast in fMRI

A

DCE-MRI images
Better contrast between soft tissue
Edge detection for tumours

25
challenges of fMRI
Accessibility Contraindications to contrast Extensive safety protocols
26
Brain - fMRI
used frequently to assist in GTV and CTV delineation in planning Measurement of response to therapy - diffusion maps Can do correlation between diffusion coefficient pre-post treatment
27
Lung - fMRI
fast imaging sequences can give high spatial and temporal resolution (10 images per sec) Can check tumour mobility through dynamic imaging Hyperpolarised to determine lung function - avoidance of functioning lung during planning Measurement of response to radiation Effects of motion on dosimetry using probability density function (PDF)
28
Prostate - fMRI
MRI is superior Extent of disease and contouring Mix sequences: T2, DCE, DW and MRS for cancer detection and mapping BOLD: blood oxygen level dependent sequences for measuring hypoxia
29
PET radionuclides half life
15O - 2 min - FOR BRAIN 11C - 20 MIN - FOR BRAIN 13N - 10MIN - For protein 18F - 110min - glucose metabolism
30
SPECT CT problems
- photo electric effect stops the signal from reaching the detector - scattered photons do not pass through collimator due to angle: leads to signal loss - compton scattered photon reaches detector but degrades quality of image
31
Why use in RT
Decision making and staging Treatment plan optimisation Measuring treatment response