A progress review on methods for in vivo measurement of ^(131)I in thyroids by using portable gamma spectrometers

Iodine-131 is a highly toxic and volatile artificial radionuclide that is easily inhaled or ingested by the human body and selectively accumulates in thyroid tissue.With the development of nuclear medicine and nuclear power plants,the unintended release of ^(131)I has been widely studied,and the in vivo measurement of ^(131)I in the thyroid has become a research hotspot in the field of radiation protection.In recent decades,several methods and devices have been developed for in vivo measurements with respect to different measurement purposes and requirements.In this work,for more accurate determinations of individual ^(131)I in the thyroid in the field,the uncertainties of measurements by using portable gamma spectrometers were reviewed and analyzed,and monitoring strategies for improving the accuracy were proposed and prospected.

Experimental investigation on the radiation background inside body counters

In vivo measurement of radioactivity based on various body counters is arguably the leading measure used to determine the distribution and activity of radionuclides in human subjects,such as I-131 in the thyroid,Am-241 in the lungs,and Pb-210 in the skull.Throughout the measurements,the radiation background is the key factor that determines the sensitivity of the counter.Therefore,to facilitate in vivo measurements,a well-designed shielding room is required to create a low-background environment.However,because the compositions of the radiation background are quite complicated,the respective contributions from each source remain obscure,which places a considerable burden on seeking an optimized design of shielding rooms that strikes the optimum balance between the construction cost and background suppression effect.In this study,we conducted a systematic experimental investigation on the radiation background outside and inside four representative body counters with assorted designs using a variety of radiation detectors,including high-purity germanium detectors,CdZnTe detector,radon emanometer,and gamma-ray dosimeter.By carefully controlling the experimental conditions and synergetic analysis of the measurement results,in conjunction with previous studies,we separated and determined the relative contributions induced by environmental radiation(4%),airborne radon and its daughters(2%),the normal radioactivity of human subjects arising from K-40(58%),cosmic rays(12%),and radioactivity in shielding materials and measuring instruments(24%).Furthermore,based on these results,we discuss practical guidelines to design a shielding room for body counters.

A new method for validation of quantitative measurement by intravascular ultrasound in vivo

Studies in vitro show that intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) underestimates vessel and lumen dimensions. In order to validate IVUS measurement in vivo, we conducted a comparative study during catheterization in fifty patients. The patients underwent IVUS examinations for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of coronary artery disease. The IVUS system was a 3.5 F, 20 MHz IVUS catheter (Sonicath catheter of Boston Scientific Co.) and a Hewlett Packard console. After examination of the coronary artery, the IVUS probe was withdrawn back into the guiding catheter to measure the average lumen diameter of the guiding catheter (8 F, Cordis). This measurement in vivo (VI) was compared with the true lumen diameter provided by the manufac Department of Cardiology, University of Essen, Essen, Germany (Liu FQ, Ge JB, Baumgart D, Haude M, Caspari G, Grge G, Eick B and Erbel R) turer (MA) and determined by on line quantitative angiography (HICOR, Siemens) (HI). In addition, the IVUS measurement in vitro (VT) was also taken with the same guiding catheter in waterbath at 37℃. The results showed that IVUS underestimated the true lumen diameter by 2.2%±2.6% in vivo, by 3.1%±1.8% in vitro, while HICOR owerestimated the true lumen diameter by 23.0%±6.8%. There was no difference between the IVUS measurements in vivo and in vitro. In summary, IVUS was very accurate for the measurement of a 8 F guiding catheter in vivo with only a minor underestimation, and IVUS measurement was far more reliable than the on line quantitative angiography.