scholarly journals An Active Irradiation System with Automatic Beam Positioning and Focusing for a Medical Cyclotron

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2452
Author(s):  
Philipp Daniel Häffner ◽  
Carolina Belver-Aguilar ◽  
Pierluigi Casolaro ◽  
Gaia Dellepiane ◽  
Paola Scampoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Hospital ◽  
Radioisotope Production ◽  
Magnet System ◽  
Beam Spot ◽  
Medical Radioisotopes ◽  
Specific Feedback ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Irradiation Performance ◽  
Beam Monitoring

A novel active focusing system was developed for enhancing the irradiation performance of the 18 MeV medical cyclotron in operation at the Bern University Hospital in view of the production of non-conventional medical radioisotopes using solid targets. In several cases, such as the production of 43Sc and 44Sc, the beam has to be kept stable within a very small target of about 5 mm diameter. For this purpose, we conceived and realized an apparatus based on a compact focusing and steering magnet system followed by a two-dimensional beam monitoring detector and a specific feedback software that drives the magnet to optimize the beam for a given irradiation set-up. We report on the design, realization and validation beam tests performed using the research beam transfer line of the Bern cyclotron. We demonstrated that the beam spot can be kept on target thanks to the fact that the system automatically reacts to perturbations. Compactness is one of the key features of this system, allowing its use in accelerator facilities with limited space, such as medical cyclotrons for radioisotope production.

scholarly journals Accelerator and detector physics at the Bern medical cyclotron and its beam transport line

Nukleonika ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Auger ◽  
Saverio Braccini ◽  
Antonio Ereditato ◽  
Marcel Häberli ◽  
Elena Kirillova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Hospital ◽  
Proton Accelerator ◽  
Radioisotope Production ◽  
Beam Transport ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Beam Transport Line ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Transport Line ◽  
Line Ending ◽  
Beam Monitoring

Abstract The cyclotron laboratory for radioisotope production and multi-disciplinary research at the Bern University Hospital (Inselspital) is based on an 18-MeV proton accelerator, equipped with a specifically conceived 6-m long external beam line, ending in a separate bunker. This facility allows performing daily positron emission tomography (PET) radioisotope production and research activities running in parallel. Some of the latest developments on accelerator and detector physics are reported. They encompass novel detectors for beam monitoring and studies of low current beams.

scholarly journals COVID-19 does not stop obstetrics: what we need to change to go on safely birthing. The experience of a University Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in Milan

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 997-1000
Author(s):  
Nikita Alfieri ◽  
Stefano Manodoro ◽  
Anna Maria Marconi
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Obstetrics And Gynecology ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Clinical Services ◽  
Wuhan City ◽  
Set Up

AbstractSince SARS-COV-2 appeared in Wuhan City, China and rapidly spread throughout Europe, a real revolution occurred in the daily routine and in the organization of the entire health system. While non-urgent clinical services have been reduced as far as possible, all kind of specialists turned into COVID-19 specialists. Obstetric assistance cannot be suspended and, at the same time, safety must be guaranteed. In addition, as COVID-19 positive pregnant patients require additional care, some of the clinical habits need to be changed to face emerging needs for a vulnerable but unstoppable kind of patients. We report the management set up in an Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit during the COVID-19 era in a University Hospital in Milan, Italy.

scholarly journals Clinicopathological Characteristics and Non-Adhesive Organ Culture of Insulinomas

2008 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hoem ◽  
D. Jensen ◽  
S. Steine ◽  
T. E. Thorsen ◽  
A. Viste ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organ Culture ◽  
Ct Scan ◽  
Endoscopic Ultrasonography ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Clinicopathological Characteristics ◽  
The Body ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Rare Type ◽  
Set Up

Background and Aims: Insulinoma is a very rare type of islet cell tumour, but nevertheless the most common endocrine tumour of the pancreas. We aimed at reviewing our clinical experience with this tumour type and to assess whether organ culture could be obtained from surgically resected insulinoma material. Material and Methods: All patients with insulinomas (6 men and 10 women) referred to Haukeland University Hospital between 1986 and 2006 were included in the study. Median age of onset was 53 years (range 21–74). Biochemical diagnosis was established during a 72 h fast test. Imaging and localization of the tumours were performed with intra-operative ultrasonography, endoscopic ultrasonography, CT-scan and/or transcutaneous ultrasonography. For six patients, organ cultures were set up from tumour tissue fragments. Results: The annual incidence of insulinoma was 0.8 per million. The patients generally presented with non-specific, episodic symptoms, which often were mistaken for cardiovascular, neurological or diabetic disease and in some cases delayed the diagnosis with several years. Two patients had diabetes prior to the diagnosis of insulinoma. Patient weight gain was probably due to increased food intake, compensating for the hypoglycemia. Intra-operative ultrasonography detected all tumours correctly, whereas 73% were detected by endoscopic ultrasonography and 38% by CT scan. Five insulinomas were located in the head, eight in the body and three in the tail of the pancreas. All were removed by open-access surgery, eleven cases by resection and five by enucleation. One tumour was malignant with liver metastases and two patients had tumours defined as borderline. Insulinoma tissue fragments developed into spheroids during the first week of culturing and insulin secretion into the media was demonstrated. Conclusions: Insulinomas are rare and diagnostically challenging tumours. Intra-operative ultrasonography was superior to other imaging modalities to locate the lesion. In organ culture, insulinomas readily form spheroids which may be used to yield insight into beta-cell biology.

scholarly journals Virtual reality videos used in undergraduate palliative and oncology medical teaching: results of a pilot study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Taubert ◽  
Lucie Webber ◽  
Timothy Hamilton ◽  
Madeleine Carr ◽  
Mark Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Medical Teaching ◽  
Set Up

BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) immersive environments have been shown to be effective in medical teaching. Our university hospital received funding from our deanery, Health Education in Wales, to film teaching videos with a 360-degree camera.AimsTo evaluate whether VR is an effective and acceptable teaching environment. VR headsets were set up for medical students who rotated through Velindre Cancer Hospital’s Palliative Care department.MethodsStudents were asked to put on a VR headset and experience a pre-recorded 27 min presentation on nausea and vomiting in palliative care settings. They subsequently viewed a radiotherapy treatment experience from a patient’s point of view.ResultsOf the 72 medical students who participated, 70 found the experience comfortable, with two students stating they felt the experience uncomfortable (1=headset too tight; 1=blurry visuals). Numerical scoring on ability to concentrate in VR from 0 to 10 (0=worst, 10=best) scored an average of 8.44 (range, 7–10). Asked whether this format suited their learning style, average score was 8.31 (range 6–10). 97.2 % (n=70) students stated that they would recommend this form of learning to a colleague, with one student saying he/she would not recommend and another stating he/she was unsure. Students left anonymous free-text feedback comments which helped frame future needs in this emerging area.DiscussionThis study suggests that there is room for exploring new ways of delivering teaching and expanding it more widely in palliative care and oncology, but also provides feedback on areas that need further careful attention. Comments from students included: “Might have been the novelty factor but I learnt more from this 20 min VR thing than I have from many lectures”.SummaryThe project has proved sufficiently popular in medical student feedback, that the VR experience is now available on YouTube and has been permanently introduced into routine teaching. Further 360-degree teaching environments have been filmed. Of note is that our 360-degree videos have been viewed in Africa, so this format of teaching could prove valuable due to its global reach.

On the application of a single-crystal κ-diffractometer and a CCD area detector for studies of thin films

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 644-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Hovde Sønsteby ◽  
Dmitry Chernyshov ◽  
Michael Getz ◽  
Ola Nilsen ◽  
Helmer Fjellvåg
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Thin Films ◽  
Crystal Orientation ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Area Detector ◽  
Layer Deposition ◽  
Crucial Information ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Set Up

A multipurpose six-axis κ-diffractometer, together with the brilliance of the ESRF light source and a CCD area detector, has been explored for studying epitaxial relations and crystallinity in thin film systems. The geometrical flexibility of the six-axis goniometer allows measurement of a large volume in reciprocal space, providing an in-depth understanding of sample crystal relationships. By a set of examples of LaAlO3thin films deposited by the atomic layer deposition technique, the possibilities of the set-up are presented. A fast panoramic scan provides determination of the crystal orientation matrices, prior to more thorough inspection of single Bragg nodes. Such information, in addition to a broadening analysis of families of single reflections, is shown to correlate well with the crystallinity, crystallite size, strain and epitaxial relationships in the thin films. The proposed set-up offers fast and easy sample mounting and alignment, along with crucial information on key features of the thin film structures.

scholarly journals Appropriate Use Criteria in Echocardiography: An Observational Institutional Study with the Perspective of a Quality Improvement Project

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. CMC.S36504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Rameh ◽  
Antoine Kossaify
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Clinical Outcome ◽  
Quality Improvement Project ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Appropriate Use Criteria ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Health Care Resources ◽  
Set Up

Background Appropriate use criteria (AUC) in echocardiography are essential tools for aligning the indications of echocardiography with the best clinical standards, improving clinical outcome, restraining abuse, and preserving health-care resources. Objectives The aim of this study was to ascertain the AUC for transthoracic echocardiography in a university hospital and create a quality improvement project (QIP). Methods The assessment of 501 inpatients who received transthoracic cardiac echo was conducted according to the 2011 AUC report. Indications were classified as appropriate, uncertain, or inappropriate, and patients not matching any of the abovementioned divisions were grouped in the nonfitting category. Results Of the 501 eligible patients, 374 patients (74.66%) were in the appropriate group, 85 patients (16.96%) in the inappropriate group, 20 patients (3.99%) in the uncertain group, and 22 patients (4.39%) in the nonfitting category. Discussion Interpretation and analysis of the obtained results are presented, along with the results of many comparable studies; moreover, a QIP was set up accordingly. Conclusion AUC are useful to assess local practice, preserve health-care resources, and improve clinical outcome.

scholarly journals REINVENTING THE NATIONAL TOPOGRAPHIC DATABASE

2016 ◽  
Vol XLI-B4 ◽  
pp. 733-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jakobsson ◽  
R. Ilves
Keyword(s):  
Technical Architecture ◽  
Land Survey ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Set Up

The National Land Survey (NLS) has had a digital topographic database (TDB) since 1992. Many of its features are based on the Basic Map created by M. Kajamaa in 1947, mapping first completed in 1977. The basis for the renewal of the TDB begun by investigating the value of the TDB, a study made by the Aalto University in 2014 and a study on the new TDB system 2030 published by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2015. As a result of these studies the NLS set up a programme for creating a new National Topographic Database (NTDB) in beginning of 2015. First new version should be available in 2019. The new NTDB has following key features: 1) it is based on processes where data is naturally maintained, 2) it is quality managed, 3) it has persistent Ids, 4) it supports 3D, 4D, 5) it is based on standards. <br><br> The technical architecture is based on interoperable modules. A website for following the development of the NTDB can be accessed for more information: <a href="http://kmtk.maanmittauslaitos.fi/"target="_blank">http://kmtk.maanmittauslaitos.fi/</a>.

scholarly journals Histomorphometry of hepatic portal fibrosis in patients with surgical schistosomiasis mansoni

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 7-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Teixeira Brandt ◽  
Ana Lúcia Coutinho Domingues ◽  
Paulo Vilela ◽  
Andréa Sena ◽  
Karina Marques ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Portal Fibrosis ◽  
Schistosomiasis Mansoni ◽  
Liver Parameters ◽  
Grade Ii ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Hepatic Portal ◽  
Histology Report ◽  
Grade Iii

The usual histology report of hepatic fibrosis in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni presents no association with hemodynamic and clinical liver parameters. Histomorphometry is adding a new tool of investigation for measuring density of portal fibrosis in these patients. This investigation was set up for assessing a possible agreement between the well-accepted international classification and the fibrosis density grades measured by histomorphometry. Thirty-five children and equal number of adults were included in this study. All patients underwent splenectomy and ligature of the left gastric vein. Histology findings were assessed in surgical liver biopsy stained with Masson trichrome. The official histology report was used as reference. The histomorphometric studies were done by semi-automatic morphometry. The mean percentage (X) of portal fibrosis plus or minus one standard deviation (SD) was classified as grade II (7.06% up to 34.72%); grade I was up to 7.06%; and grade III above 34.72%. Although, not reaching statistical significance, there is a tendency of the fibrosis to be more intense in children than adults (X±SD - 22.02±13.46% versus 20.63%±15.33% "t" = 0.379 p>0.05). Seven out of nine (77.8%) patients classified as grade I, by morphometry, had the same result on the official report, however, two (22.2%) were described as grade III. Sixteen out of forty-four (36.4%) classified as grade II on morphometry had the same classification as the histology grade, but, twenty seven (61.4%) were classified as grade III and one (2.3%) as grade I. Fifteen (21.4%) out of 70 patients had grade III on both classifications, but, two (11.8%) out of seventeen G III on morphometry were grade II. The kappa (k) measurement of agreement between both classification was k = 0.319, showing a fair strength of association. The histomorphometric measurements of Symmers fibrosis in surgical patients with mansonic schistosomiasis partially support the report from The Department of Pathology - University Hospital, Federal University of Pernambuco - Brazil. However, there is a discrepancy in grade III. While in the official classification, the majority (62.8%) accounts for this grade, on morphometry only 38.6% represent the same grade. On the contrary, on morphometry, similar majority (62.8%) is grade II.

scholarly journals Prediction of hospital bed capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke Deschepper ◽  
Kristof Eeckloo ◽  
Simon Malfait ◽  
Dominique Benoit ◽  
Steven Callens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Poisson Model ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Sudden Increase ◽  
Planning Tool ◽  
Hospital Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Bed Capacity ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Hospital Wards

Abstract Background: Prediction of the necessary capacity of beds by ward type (e.g. ICU) is essential for planning purposes during epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 taskforce within the Ghent University hospital made use of ten-day forecasts on the required number of beds for COVID-19 patients across different wards.Methods: The planning tool combined a Poisson model for the number of newly admitted patients on each day with a multistate model for the transitions of admitted patients to the different wards, discharge or death. These models were used to simulate the required capacity of beds by ward type over the next 10 days, along with worst-case and best-case bounds.Results: Overall, the models resulted in good predictions of the required number of beds across different hospital wards. Short-term predictions were especially accurate as these are less sensitive to a sudden increase or decrease in number of beds on a given ward. Code snippets and details on the set-up are provided to guide the reader to apply the planning tool on one’s own hospital data.Conclusions: We were able to achieve a fast setup of a planning tool useful within the COVID-19 pandemic, with a fair prediction on the needed capacity by ward type. This methodology can also be applied for other epidemics.

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