No abstract available.
Factor VII Deficiency* ; Factor VII*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy for spatial resolution and radiation dose of a small-field digital mammographic imaging system using parabolic polycapillary optics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed a small-field digital mammographic imaging system composed of a CCD (charge coupled device) detector and an X-ray source coupled with parabolic polycapillary optics. The spatial resolution and radiation dose according to various filters were evaluated for a small-field digital mammographic imaging system. The images of a test standard phantom and breast cancer tissue sample were obtained. RESULTS: The small-field digital mammographic imaging system had spatial resolutions of 12 lp/mm with molybdenum and rhodium filters with a 25-micrometer thickness. With a thicker molybdenum filter (100 micrometer thick), the system had a higher spatial resolution of 11 lp/mm and contrast of 0.48. The radiation dose for a rhodium filter with a 25-micrometer thickness was 0.13 mGy within a 10-mm-diameter local field. A larger field image greater than 10 mm in diameter could be obtained by scanning an object. On the small-field mammographic imaging system, microcalcifications of breast cancer tissue were clearly observed. CONCLUSION: A small-field digital mammographic imaging system with parabolic polycapillary optics may be a useful diagnostic tool for providing high-resolution imaging with a low radiation dose for examination of local volumes of breast tissue.
Equipment Design ; Humans ; Mammography/*instrumentation ; Molybdenum ; Optics and Photonics/*instrumentation ; Phantoms, Imaging ; Radiographic Image Enhancement/*instrumentation ; Rhodium

We developed a high-resolution micro-CT system based on rotational gantry and flat-panel detector for live mouse imaging. This system is composed primarily of an x-ray source with micro-focal spot size, a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) flat panel detector coupled with CsI (Tl) (thallium-doped cesium iodide) scintillator, a linearly moving couch, a rotational gantry coupled with positioning encoder, and a parallel processing system for image data. This system was designed to be of the gantry-rotation type which has several advantages in obtaining CT images of live mice, namely, the relative ease of minimizing the motion artifact of the mice and the capability of administering respiratory anesthesia during scanning. We evaluated the spatial resolution, image contrast, and uniformity of the CT system using CT phantoms. As the results, the spatial resolution of the system was approximately the 11.3 cycles/mm at 10% of the MTF curve, and the radiation dose to the mice was 81.5 mGy. The minimal resolving contrast was found to be less than 46 CT numbers on low-contrast phantom imaging test. We found that the image non-uniformity was approximately 70 CT numbers at a voxel size of ~55x55x100micrometer3. We present the image test results of the skull and lung, and body of the live mice.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Artifacts ; Cesium ; Lung ; Mice ; Skull

BACKGROUND: Antithrombin III (AT-III) produced from hepatocytes and endothelial cells is a coagulation inhibitor. The authors investigated the activity levels of AT-III in patients with liver disease and attempt to elucidate the clinical significance of activity levels of AT-III in relation to various liver disease. METHODS: This study includes 158 patients with liver disease, who visited the National Police Hospital between October 1997 and March 2002. We performed laboratory tests such as LFT, AFP and either abdominal sonography or abdominal CT. At the same time, AT-III activity levels was measured by chromogenic method using ACL 3000 (IL, Lexington, USA). AT-III activity level of 70~120% was regarded as normal. RESULTS: AT-III activity level of liver cirrhosis patients was decreased along with severity of the disease evaluated by Child-Pugh Classification. AT-III activity level of liver cirrhosis patients and hepatocellular carcinoma patients with liver cirrhosis, whose serum AFP were within normal limits, were 50.11+/-2.86% and 75.58+/-6.61%, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Considering the results of the decrease of AT-III activity level in liver cirrhosis patients and the increase in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with liver cirrhosis, further evaluation for the possibility of hepatocellular carcinoma in liver cirrhosis patients without decrease of AT-III level or increase of AFP, may be in need.
Antithrombin III* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Classification ; Endothelial Cells ; Hepatocytes ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver* ; Plasma* ; Police ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed