Advances in radionuclide tracers have allowed for more accurate imaging that reflects the actions of numerous neurotransmitters, energy metabolism utilization, inflammation, and pathological protein accumulation. All of these achievements in molecular brain imaging have broadened our understanding of brain function in Parkinson's disease (PD). The implementation of molecular imaging has supported more accurate PD diagnosis as well as assessment of therapeutic outcome and disease progression. Moreover, molecular imaging is well suited for the detection of preclinical or prodromal PD cases. Despite these advances, future frontiers of research in this area will focus on using multi-modalities combining positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging along with causal modeling with complex algorithms.
Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Molecular Imaging ; methods ; trends ; Neuroimaging ; methods ; trends ; Parkinson Disease ; diagnostic imaging

Diagnostic Imaging ; trends ; Humans ; Medical Oncology ; methods ; trends ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; genetics ; therapy ; Patient Care Management ; methods ; trends

No abstract available.
Diagnostic Imaging/*methods/trends ; Humans ; Nuclear Medicine/*methods/*trends ; Positron-Emission Tomography/methods/trends ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon/methods/trends

Cerebrovascular Disorders ; diagnostic imaging ; Clinical Medicine ; Humans ; Neuroradiography ; methods ; trends ; utilization ; Stroke ; diagnostic imaging

OBJECTIVEThrough analysis of oversea published literatures on central effect mechanism of acupuncture in recent years, the general tendency in this filed is discussed so as to provide references for later studies.

METHODSPubmed database from January 2009 to May 2012 is retrieved with the key words of acupuncture and fMRI. As a result, 38 articles are included.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSHealthy subjects are adopted for most of researches. And studies are carried out through three aspects of response characteristics of acupuncture analgesia, response characteristics of acupuncture specificity and duration of acupuncture effect. However, the brain activities of healthy subjects are obviously different from that of patients. Moreover, acupuncture treatment is also different from modern therapies. Therefore, it is held that patients should be adopted as study subjects in the future studies, and various bias in research designation and implementation course should be avoided.

Acupuncture Analgesia ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; trends ; Radiography

Spinal biomechanics, especially the range of spine motion,has close connection with spinal surgery. The change of the range of motion (ROM) is an important indicator of diseases and injuries of spine, and the essential evaluating standards of effect of surgeries and therapies to spine. The analysis of ROM can be dated to the time of the invention of X-ray and even that before it. With the development of science and technology as well as the optimization of various types of calculation methods, diverse measuring methods have emerged, from imaging methods to non-imaging methods, from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, from measuring directly on the X-ray films to calculating automatically by computer. Analysis of ROM has made great progress, but there are some older methods cannot meet the needs of the times and disappear, some classical methods such as X-ray still have vitality. Combining different methods, three dimensions and more vivo spine research are the trend of analysis of ROM. And more and more researchers began to focus on vivo spine research. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the methods utilized recently are presented through viewing recent literatures, providing reference and help for the movement analysis of spine.
Animals ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; instrumentation ; methods ; trends ; Radiography ; Spine ; diagnostic imaging

Cardiology ; instrumentation ; methods ; China ; Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Nuclear Medicine ; instrumentation ; trends ; Radionuclide Imaging ; instrumentation ; trends ; Stethoscopes ; Ventricular Dysfunction ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging

Quantum dots (QDs) are nanometer-sized luminescent semiconductor nanocrystals. Their unique optical properties, such as high brightness, long-term stability, simultaneous detection of multiple signals and tunable emission spectra, make them appealing as potential diagnostic and therapeutic systems in oncology. Preparing the functional QDs by modifying bio-molecules such as antibody will have potential value for cancer diagnosis and treatment. This paper summarized the recent progress of promising application of QDs in cancer diagnosis and therapy, from identifying molecular targets, to drug delivery and therapy; from limitations of toxicity issues related to QDs in living organisms to multifunctional design and development. Finally, the promising applications of QDs are also discussed.
Animals ; Diagnostic Imaging ; trends ; Drug Delivery Systems ; trends ; Humans ; Nanomedicine ; methods ; Nanoparticles ; therapeutic use ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Quantum Dots

Developments of contrast agent and imaging technique have made it possible for using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to assess perfusion. As an irradiative, real time and repeatable technique, ultrasound is revealing its advantages in this field compared with nuclear medicine, CT and MRI. This paper introduces the mechanism and methods of the CEUS in the perfusion ultrasound. The advancement in the study of the time-intensity curve (TIC) in systemic organs is also reviewed in this paper.
Animals ; Contrast Media ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; Liver Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; Models, Theoretical ; Perfusion ; Ultrasonography ; methods ; trends

The traditional methods of skeletal age estimation mainly include Numeration, Atlas, and Counting scores. In recent years, other new methods were proposed by several scholars. Utilizing image logical characteristics of X-ray film to extrapolate skeletal age is a key means by present forensic medicine workers in evaluating skeletal age. However, there exist some variations when we present the conclusion of skeletal age as an "evidence" directly to the Justice Trial Authority. In order to enhance the accuracy of skeletal age determination, further investigation for appropriate methodology should be undertaken. After a collective study of pertinent domestic and international literatures, we present this review of the research and advancement on skeletal age evaluation methods of X-ray film.
Age Determination by Skeleton/trends* ; Carpal Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Elbow/diagnostic imaging* ; Female ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Hand Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Male ; Radius/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; X-Ray Film