The Role of Computer Assisted Imaging in Paediatric Nuclear Medicine

Summary

The nuclear imaging data is easily analyzed by a computer. The data has low resolution and the pixel statistics are lower than other radiological imaging techniques. Therefore, computer assisted imaging has flourished in paediatric nuclear radiology. SPECT is an integral part of nuclear radiology. In children it has become essential in evaluating renal scarring, temporal lobe epilepsy, post op myocardial ischaemia, back pain and haemangiomas. Functional analysis is the forte of nuclear radiology. The renal system makes the greatest use of data analysis, e.g., GFR, ERPF, Lasix washout, Captopril renography, differential renal function, voiding cystography. Because the average nuclear radiology study requires less than 1 megabyte of data it can be easily archived using non destructive data compression routines. (We can store three months of data on rewritable optical disc, or 25 cents per study.)

When radionuclides were first applied to diagnostic problems in medicine, it was not for the purposes of imaging but rather for quantifying physiological function. With the advent of rectolinear scanners and gamma cameras, imaging became a major part and in fact a dominating part of the application of radionuclides to medicine. With the use of computer analysis there has been a return of nuclear imaging to the assessment of function.