Comparison of irregular flux viewer system with BONENAVI version for identification of Tc-99m MDP whole body bone scan metastasis images

Abstract

The Tc-99m methylene diphosphonate (MDP) whole body bone scan (WBBS) has been widely accepted as a method of choice for the initial diagnosis of bone and joint changes in patients with oncologic diseases. The WBBS has shown high sensitivity but relatively low specificity due to bone variation. This study aims to use the self-developing irregular flux viewer (IFV) system to predict possible bone lesions in planar WBBS. The study uses gradient vector flow (GVF) and self-organizing map (SOM) methods to analyze the blood fluid-dynamics and evaluate hot points. The evaluation includes a selection of 368 patients with bone metastasis from prostate cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer. Finally, we compare IFV values with BONENAVI version data. BONENAVI is a computer-assisted diagnosis system that analyzes bone scintigraphy automatically. The analysis shows that the IFV system achieves sensitivities of 93% for prostate cancer, 91% for breast cancer, and 83% for lung cancer, respectively. On the other hand, our proposed approach achieves a higher sensitivity than the results of BONEVAVI version 2.0.5 for prostate cancer (88%), breast cancer (86%) and lung cancer (82%), respectively. The study results demonstrate that the high sensitivity and specificity of the IFV system can provide assistance for image interpretation and generate prediction values for WBBS.

Optimizing the Minimum Detectable Difference of Gamma Camera SPECT Images via the Taguchi Analysis: A Feasibility Study with a V-Shaped Slit Gauge

“…A bone scan is a common examination (~30% the work load in routine examination) in the nuclear medicine of most Taiwanese hospitals because it can provide bountiful information on local blood flow and bone metabolic activity. This fast-screening tool for whole-body bone cancer metastasis [1,2] is instrumental in examining the preliminary syndrome from increased blood flow or osteogenetic activity enhancement than routine X-ray diagnosis that bone calcium needs to change over ±35-50% in order to cause an apparent lesion in a clinical X-ray examination [3,4]. Nevertheless, bone is one of the most common sites for metastases of all cancers; thus, an optimal preset of regular bone scan protocol can greatly help examine the carcinoma in the early stage from a radiological viewpoint [5][6][7].…”