S. Watanuki

Clinical assessment of therapeutic effects on cancer using 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose and positron emission tomography: preliminary study of lung cancer.

Using positron emission tomography, we studied the tumor uptake of 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) in five lung cancer patients before and after anti-cancer therapy (radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy). The tumor uptake of 18FDG was classified as positive and negative; the former, by increasing the uptake of 18FDG with time, and the latter, by decreasing or the constant uptake of 18FDG. Before therapy, all cases tested positive. After therapy, three cases were negative and two cases remained positive. All negative cases corresponded to complete second 18FDG study. Our findings in the 18FDG study correlate with the clinical results. 18FDG is a promising method for assessing therapeutic effects on cancer clinically.

Functional brain mapping of actual car driving using [18F]FDG-PET

AimsThis study aims at identifying the brain activation during actual car-driving on the road, and at comparing the results to those of previous studies on simulated car-driving.MethodsThirty normal volunteers, aged 20 to 56 years, were divided into three subgroups, active driving, passive driving and control groups, for examination by positron emission tomography (PET) and [18F]2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG). The active driving subjects (n = 10) drove for 30 minutes on quiet normal roads with a few traffic signals. The passive driving subjects (n = 10) participated as passengers on the front seat. The control subjects (n = 10) remained seated in a lit room with their eyes open. Voxel-basedt-statistics were applied using SPM2 to search brain activation among the subgroups mentioned above.ResultsSignificant brain activation was detected during active driving in the primary and secondary visual cortices, primary sensorimotor areas, premotor area, parietal association area, cingulate gyrus, the parahippocampal gyrus as well as in thalamus and cerebellum. The passive driving manifested a similar-looking activation pattern, lacking activations in the premotor area, cingulate and parahippocampal gyri and thalamus. Direct comparison of the active and passive driving conditions revealed activation in the cerebellum.ConclusionThe result of actual driving looked similar to that of simulated driving, suggesting that visual perception and visuomotor coordination were the main brain functions while driving. In terms of attention and autonomic arousal, however, it seems there was a significant difference between simulated and actual driving possibly due to risk of accidents. Autonomic and emotional aspects of driving should be studied using an actual driving study-design.

Tracheobronchial mucociliary clearance and alveolar epithelial permeability measured by PET with 18FDG powder

Tracheobronchial mucociliary clearance and alveolar permeability were measured with positron emission tomography using a water-soluble dry aerosol, sodium-N-acetyl-neuraminate tagged with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (18FDG powder). Five normal volunteers inhaled 1.5-2.0 mCi of FDG powder by a single deep breath. The distribution of radioactivity, measured by scanning during a period of 120 min, showed that the 18FDG powder deposition progressed from the central airways to the peripheral alveolar areas. In the tracheobronchial system the radioactivity decreased to 24% of the initial deposition at 60 min. In the peripheral alveolar area, where absorption into blood or lymphatic flow crossing the epithelial layer represents a unique mechanism of clearance for water-soluble 18FDG powder, alveolar radioactivity decreased slowly to approximately 70% of the initial deposition at 60 min after inhalation. Positron emission tomography using 18FDG powder provides a regional evaluation of both mucociliary transport in the tracheobronchial system and epithelial permeability in the alveolar area.

Performance evaluation of the small-animal PET scanner ClairvivoPET using NEMA NU 4-2008 Standards

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of ClairvivoPET using NEMA NU4 standards. The ClairvivoPET incorporates a LYSO dual depth-of-interaction detector system with 151 mm axial field of view (FOV). Spatial resolution, sensitivity, counting rate capabilities, and image quality were evaluated using NEMA NU4-2008 standards. Normal mouse imaging was also performed for 10 min after intravenous injection of (18)F(-)-NaF. Data were compared with 19 other preclinical PET scanners. Spatial resolution measured using full width at half maximum on FBP-ramp reconstructed images was 2.16 mm at radial offset 5 mm of the axial centre FOV. The maximum absolute sensitivity for a point source at the FOV centre was 8.72%. Peak noise equivalent counting rate (NECR) was 415 kcps at 14.6 MBq ml(-1). The uniformity with the image-quality phantom was 4.62%. Spillover ratios in the images of air and water filled chambers were 0.19 and 0.06, respectively. Our results were comparable with the 19 other preclinical PET scanners based on NEMA NU4 standards, with excellent sensitivity because of the large FOV. The ClairvivoPET with iterative reconstruction algorithm also provided sufficient visualization of the mouse spine. The high sensitivity and resolution of the ClairvivoPET scanner provided high quality images for preclinical studies.

Myocardial imaging using 11CCoQ10 with positron emission tomography

The potential of 11C-labeled coenzyme Q10(CoQ10) as a myocardial imaging tracer was explored with positron emission tomography (PET). Serial myocardial imaging studies were performed using 11C-CoQ10, 45Ti-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (45Ti-DTPA), and 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-mannose (18FDM) in the same dog. Cross sectional images of the heart with 11C-CoQ10 showed relatively high radioactivity in the blood pool, when compared with images taken with 18FDM. However, when the blood spillover of radioactivity is adequately corrected with 45Ti-DTPA data, it was found that 11C-CoQ10 accumulated in the myocardium with time.