This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the image quality performance when implementing computed tomography data (CTAC) or magnetic resonance data for attenuation correction (MRAC) on positron emission tomography (PET) images. The CTAC and MRAC were performed on image from PET/CT and PET/MR scanners, respectively. The systematic review was done based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). In this study, twelve articles were included from six databases. The image performance was evaluated by overall image quality, contrast, spatial resolution, detectability, standardised uptake value (SUV) and acquisition time. Data was shown as mean ± standard deviation and compared between CTAC and MRAC images to determine which attenuation correction method provides better image quality. Results found that PET-CTAC and PET-MRAC have similar image performance in overall image quality (p=0.93), detectabilty (p=0.84), SUVmean (p=0.84) and SUVmax (p=0.81). Meanwhile, PET-CTAC acquisition time is significantly faster than PET-MRAC by approximately two fold (p <0.05). There were no statistical analyses performed for image contrast, spatial resolution and contrast-noise-ratio due to the insufficient data. In conclusion, although PET/CT is faster than PET/MRI procedure, images yielded from CTAC and MRAC are equivalent to each other. Due to the variation of linear attenuation coefficient for each type of tissue, future review of image quality comparison can be done focusing on specific tissue or region such as soft tissue, bone and lungs to reflect the real impact of CTAC and MRAC on PET image.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant public health concern. Globally, TB is among the top 10 and the leading cause of death due to a single infectious agent. Providing standard anti-TB therapy for at least 6 months is recommended as one of the crucial strategies to control the TB epidemic. However, the long duration of TB treatment raised the issue of non-adherence. Non-adherence to TB therapy could negatively affect clinical and public health outcomes. Thus, directly observed therapy (DOT) has been introduced as a standard strategy to improve anti-TB medication adherence. Nonetheless, the DOT approach has been criticized due to inconvenience, stigma, reduced economic productivity, and reduced quality of life, which ultimately could complicate adherence issues. Apart from that, its effectiveness in improving anti-TB adherence is debatable. Therefore, digital technology could be an essential tool to enhance the implementation of DOT. Incorporating the health belief model (HBM) into digital technology can further increase its effectiveness in changing behavior and improving medication adherence. This article aimed to review the latest evidence regarding TB medication non-adherence, its associated factors, DOT’s efficacy and its alternatives, and the use of digital technology and HBM in improving medication adherence. This paper used the narrative review methodology to analyze related articles to address the study objectives. Conventional DOT has several disadvantages in TB management. Integrating HBM in digital technology development is potentially effective in improving medication adherence. Digital technology provides an opportunity to improve medication adherence to overcome various issues related to DOT implementation.

The eye is a radiosensitive organ that lies within the scan range during Computed Tomography (CT) of the head. The utilization of the head CT is increasing with growing concern about the chances of development of cataract which induces by ionising radiation. This research aimed to calculate eye absorbed dose and to study the potential occurrence of radiation induces cataracts between CT Brain and CT Temporal. A total of 399 set data were obtained retrospectively according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. 364 patients underwent CT Brain while 35 patients’ data obtained for CT Temporal. The scanning parameters such as tube current, tube potential, pitch factor, beam width, filter, revolution time, and filter were recorded. Eye absorbed dose was significantly different (p<0.05) between CT brain (49.07±10.08mGy) and CT temporal (25.72 ± 6.12mGy). None of the analysed data exceeded the eye threshold dose recommended by ICRP 2012. However, as expected, the cumulative eye absorbed dose was increased as the frequencies of the scan increase. The highest number of repeated scans is five times with cumulative dose was recorded as 278.27mGy. In conclusion, the eye absorbed dose is higher in CT Brain compared to CT Temporal and has potential for induction of cataract in the future especially with the patient that undergoes repeated CT examination.
CT brain ; CT temporal ; cataract