BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The clinical education is an essential part of training in the paramedical fields. The status of clinical education should be always evaluated in order to identify the ...problems of clinical training and improve its quality. This study was carried out for assessing of clinical education quality from viewpoint of radiology technology students. METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study in the first semester of 2015-16 education year, 80 students of radiology technology of Guilan University of Medical Sciences were selected by census sampling method. The data collection tool was a reliable and valid questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using one-way ANOVA, t-test and descriptive statistics. FINDINGS: In viewpoint of students, the performance of clinical trainer was evaluated as good level. The education goals, communication with students, clinical education environment and supervising and evaluation were assessed at intermediate level. Satisfaction of education field in female students was significantly higher than male (p<0.05). No significant difference was found between general clinical education satisfaction and sex (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: To improve the quality of clinical education, enhancing the facilities and equipment, and revising the evaluation tools and education planning is recommended.
To test the feasibility of a system for intermittent irradiation synchronized with respiratory motion in a clinical setting.
A newly developed gate pulse controller that starts and stops irradiation ...at a chosen phase of the respiratory cycle by controlling a linear accelerator was used in six patients with lung cancer. A laser displacement sensor was used for the detection of respiratory motion. Three patients underwent radiation therapy during the cycles between 50% expiration and 50% inspiration (step 1), and three patients underwent radiation therapy during the cycles between 70% expiration and 30% inspiration (step 2).
The system functioned well; irradiation was verified with portal verification radiography in all six patients. The range of the tumor position during synchronized irradiation was detectable with fast portal localization radiography. The treatment times for steps 1 and 2 were 1.38-1.71 and 2.03-2.18 times longer, respectively, than those for conventional irradiation.
Synchronized irradiation with the authors' system allowed convenient and reliable reduction of the target volume. Further study is needed to standardize the system for clinical use.
RADIOLOGICAL IMAGE DATA MIGRATION Maass, M.; Kosonen, M.; Kormano, M.
Acta radiologica (1987),
July 2001, Letnik:
42, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose: To identify costs deriving from data migration of obsolete digital archives by measuring the workload, and to analyse migration‐associated problems.
Material and Methods: Two digital ...archives were used (DTL and MOD) and the capacity of these archives could no longer support the needs of the Medical Imaging Centre. The entire content of the DLT archive and selected data from the MOD archive were transferred to the current higher capacity (17 TB) tape archive. The running time of work processes was measured by self‐reporting, and the cost of work was calculated.
Results: The transfer of 43,096 studies required 314 working hours over the course of 15 months in total. The work was partly manual, partly automatic. The percentage of non‐retrievable MOD images was 35. Less than 0.2% of the DLT image transfers failed due to incorrect patient or image data. The MOD – DLT transfer cost was six times higher per study than the DLT – DLT transmission cost.
Conclusion: At present, data migration may be inevitable as the amount of data increases and technology advances. The data transfer proved to be labour intensive, with high fault sensitivity regarding the MOD archive. The cost of work of data migration was 0.4% of estimated digital archiving total yearly cost. Automated data migration is preferable.
To evaluate the temporal evolution and appearance of a radiosurgical lesion at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and the clinical response in patients undergoing stereotactic radiosurgical pallidotomy ...or thalamotomy with the gamma knife.
Seventeen patients with medically refractory movement disorders underwent stereotactic radiosurgical pallidotomy (n = 2) or thalamotomy (n = 15). A single dose of 120-140 Gy was administered to a target in the globus pallidus interna or ventralis intermedius thalamic nucleus. Postprocedure gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging and clinical assessment were performed at 1 month and 3 months.
At 3 months, the radiosurgical lesion most commonly (n = 11) appeared as a ring-enhancing focus 5 mm or less in diameter surrounded by vasogenic edema that extended less than 7 mm in radius beyond the target. Five patients had ring-enhancing lesions 7 mm or more in diameter; four of these developed symptomatic perilesional edema at 3 (n = 2) or 8 (n = 2) months after the procedure. Onset of therapeutic effect began approximately 4 weeks after treatment. In the 15 patients with tremor, there was a mean decline of 2.1 on the Tremor Rating Scale.
Findings in this pilot study suggest that radiosurgical thalamotomy is a promising treatment for medically refractory tremor. Three-month follow-up MR studies show a ring-enhancing lesion surrounded by a variable amount of vasogenic edema. Visualization of the radiosurgical lesion and the clinical response are delayed compared to that with radio-frequency procedures.
AbstractPurpose: To identify costs deriving from data migration of obsolete digital archives by measuring the workload, and to analyse migration-associated problems.Material and Methods: Two digital ...archives were used (DTL and MOD) and the capacity of these archives could no longer support the needs of the Medical Imaging Centre. The entire content of the DLT archive and selected data from the MOD archive were transferred to the current higher capacity (17 TB) tape archive. The running time of work processes was measured by self-reporting, and the cost of work was calculated.Results: The transfer of 43,096 studies required 314 working hours over the course of 15 months in total. The work was partly manual, partly automatic. The percentage of non-retrievable MOD images was 35. Less than 0.2% of the DLT image transfers failed due to incorrect patient or image data. The MOD - DLT transfer cost was six times higher per study than the DLT - DLT transmission cost.Conclusion: At present, data migration may be inevitable as the amount of data increases and technology advances. The data transfer proved to be labour intensive, with high fault sensitivity regarding the MOD archive. The cost of work of data migration was 0.4% of estimated digital archiving total yearly cost. Automated data migration is preferable.
To identify logistic issues faced by radiation oncologists in initiating intracoronary radiation therapy (RT) and to delineate their role in these procedures.
Radiation oncologists from 12 sites ...(with combined experience of >500 cases) that participated in a randomized, double-blinded study of intracoronary RT completed a questionnaire that included demographics and experience, regulatory issues, scheduling and interaction with patients, time commitment, involvement of the radiation oncologist, and ideas for overcoming hurdles.
Licensing was perceived as a substantial hurdle; Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval took more than 5 months at five of 12 sites. At two higher-volume sites, 10-20 procedures were performed per week; 75% of these radiation oncologists did not see the patient prior to the procedure and were not involved in obtaining informed consent. The mean time spent per case was 30-90 minutes; however, there were major concerns about case scheduling (<50% had any input in case scheduling) and after-hours coverage. Radiation oncologists performed fluoroscopy and cineangiography at most centers (92% and 83%); they also performed intracoronary contrast material injections (67%), interpreted intravascular ultrasonographic images (42%), and repositioned the intracoronary RT catheter (33%).
The authors identify several issues that need to be addressed before intracoronary RT becomes a part of widespread clinical practice. Close collaboration between cardiologists and radiation oncologists at various levels is required to ensure that patients derive maximal benefit from this new technology.
To compare multileaf-collimator beam shaping and conventional metal-alloy blocking in irradiation of the intact breast after breast-conserving surgery.
Transmission dose was measured in a phantom, by ...using both types of blocking with 6- and 15-MV photon beams. Buildup data were collected, using a 6-MV photon beam, comparing open fields to various beam modifiers.
Contralateral breast transmission was reduced with the multileaf collimator from 4% to 1%. With the jaws and multileaf collimator, the primary beam component of 0.5% was eliminated. Buildup data for the multileaf collimator most closely resembled the surface dose when a blocking tray is not used and were slightly lower than those for the conventional mounted blocks. This relates to the use of the lower of the two sets of wedges on the multileaf collimator, which is closer to the patient and thus enhances the surface dose relative to the dose with an open field and no wedge.
Multileaf-collimator blocking for primary breast treatment is similar to conventional blocking, and the transition from one technique to another should be uneventful. The transmission dose to the contralateral breast is decreased with the multileaf collimator.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has recently been proposed as a method to monitor, noninvasively, temperature, blood flow, and cell metabolism during oncologic hyperthermia (HT). To heat and "image" ...simultaneously, it is necessary to combine a HT device and a MRI unit. As a demonstrative example of the problems associated with implementing such a system, a mini-annular phased array hyperthermia applicator was combined with a 0.5-T whole body MRI unit. With the aid of filters, baluns, and switches, the HT applicator and the MRI unit were made compatible. The overall system was tested using a muscle-equivalent, cylindrically shaped polyacrylamide gel phantom. No interference between the HT device and the MRI unit was observed. Noninvasive temperature images, with a resolution better than 1 degree C/cm, were obtained from images of molecular diffusion recorded before and during heating.
To improve a method of stereotaxic localization with digital subtraction angiography that does not require use of a localization frame fixed to the patient's skull during examination.
An independent, ...low-cost, stereotaxic computing system was devised. Software programs used magnetic resonance images, computed tomographic scans, and digitized radiographs of plastic bone implants with head landmarks to establish reference trihedrons in each imaging system, transpose target coordinates from one system to another, adjust surgical instruments, help plan radiation surgery, and compute and display isodose curves.
The geometric distortions of the image intensifier were corrected. Distortion problems of the conic projection were solved, and three-dimensional localization was achieved with only two associated front and lateral views. Accuracy to within 1 mm was achieved for the three coordinates.
This frameless stereotaxic localization technique is highly accurate and reliable. The system allows maximum automation of examination procedures.
To report clinical experience with an implantable capsule for treating endobronchial carcinoma by means of bronchoscopic insertion and retrieval.
The capsule consists of a plastic cylinder containing ...high-activity iodine-125 seeds and four restraining legs. Twelve patients with recurrent (n = 11) or inoperable carcinoma (n = 1) received a median dose of 4,500 (range, 2,633-6,299) cGy at a 1-cm radius from the center of the implant.
No acute toxicities were observed. Five patients had complete regression of the endobronchial tumor, evidenced at bronchoscopy 2 months after therapy, and four patients had partial regression. Three patients failed to return for bronchoscopy. Symptomatic relief was achieved in eight of 10 patients with dyspnea, four of nine with cough, and two of three with hemoptysis. The median survival of the 12 patients was 6 months. The actuarial 1-year survival rate was 25%.
This capsule is safe and efficacious in treating recurrent or inoperable carcinoma of the lung.
