Guest guest Posted June 7, 2001 Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 Theresa, I can tell you what they did during these scans, but hopefully someone more knowledgeable can explain the whys and wherefores. Body scan: I laid on a long narrow table, as still as possible. They lowered a machine within centimeters of my face/head and left it there for about 10 minutes. (kept my eyes closed to avoid claustrophobia). When the timer went off they moved it to the neck and upper chest area and did the same thing, but left it there longer--about 15 minutes. Once again: don't move. Then moved the machine to my chest/abdominal area and kept it there about 10 minutes. The last part was 10 minutes over my bladder/ovarian area. Picture of sparkles showed up on the computer screen. Pinpoint scan: I laid on an even narrower table and they positioned a funnel-shaped machine at the neck area of my body and I had to lay there very still. The funnel just had a little opening on it. If I remember right (you know this only happened yesterday and once I knew they were looking at " something " I seemed to lose track of time.) the moved it to a couple of areas on my neck, but not for as long as the body scan. Uptake scan: I sat up in a chair and they put a dental-type x-ray machine up to my neck. It stayed there for a little bit, then I had to hold a piece of lead (4x4x1/2 " ) in front of my neck while they put the machine up there. Don't ask my why. I should have asked more but wasn't thinking of that right then. Now, if anyone can translate all this, that would be great! Connie Theresa Missey wrote: > Can anyone describe the types of scans noted in a > previous letter? > 4 part body scan > Pinpoint scan > Uptake Scan > All I've ever known is full body scan. > Thanks > Theresa > > > ===== > Theresa > Missouri, south of St Louis > pap thyca w/node involvement, parathyroid replacement > pt 1975 > tt 1998, 3 hypo scans, 1 thyrogen scan > scheduled for thryogen scan 6/15/01 > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Hi all I think I can add a little to this: > Body scan: I laid on a long narrow table, as still as possible. They > lowered a machine within centimeters of my face/head and left it there > for about 10 minutes. (kept my eyes closed to avoid claustrophobia). > When the timer went off they moved it to the neck and upper chest area > and did the same thing, but left it there longer--about 15 minutes. > Once again: don't move. > Then moved the machine to my chest/abdominal area and kept it there > about 10 minutes. The last part was 10 minutes over my bladder/ovarian > area. > Picture of sparkles showed up on the computer screen. This is a scan with a gamma-camera. The detector is a limited size and cannot " see " the whole body at once, hence the need to photograph a part at a time. The sparkles are the individual gamma rays which build up to make the picture. Time and quality of picture are at odds here, you could get a better picture if you waited longer, but 1 hour total is a realistic time. > Pinpoint scan: I laid on an even narrower table and they positioned a > funnel-shaped machine at the neck area of my body and I had to lay there > very still. The funnel just had a little opening on it. If I remember > right (you know this only happened yesterday and once I knew they were > looking at " something " I seemed to lose track of time.) the moved it to > a couple of areas on my neck, but not for as long as the body scan. This sounds like a gamma camera with a pinhole colimator (the colimator is the camera's equivalent of a lens). This produces a magnified, higher resolution picture of a much smaller area. Sensitivity is very, very low and it can only be done on an area of significant uptake. > > Uptake scan: I sat up in a chair and they put a dental-type x-ray > machine up to my neck. It stayed there for a little bit, then I had to > hold a piece of lead (4x4x1/2 " ) in front of my neck while they put the > machine up there. Don't ask my why. I should have asked more but > wasn't thinking of that right then. I suspect that this is not a scan, it's a measurement. The device you held against your neck is a scintillation probe (a radiation detector - similar to but completely fifferent from a geiger counter). The first measurement would have picked up radiation from the whole neck, but also the salivary glands and any radioactivity further afield, such as in the chest or stomach. The second measurement would remove most of the radioactivity from the thyroid area, thus giving a count for 'other areas'. Thyroid only counts is then just a subtraction of the two numbers. Ian Adam Radiation Safety Officer The Institute of Cancer Research Cotswold Road Sutton Surrey SM2 5NG Tel: 020 8722 4250 Fax: 020 8722 4300 EMail: iana@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Hi all I think I can add a little to this: > Body scan: I laid on a long narrow table, as still as possible. They > lowered a machine within centimeters of my face/head and left it there > for about 10 minutes. (kept my eyes closed to avoid claustrophobia). > When the timer went off they moved it to the neck and upper chest area > and did the same thing, but left it there longer--about 15 minutes. > Once again: don't move. > Then moved the machine to my chest/abdominal area and kept it there > about 10 minutes. The last part was 10 minutes over my bladder/ovarian > area. > Picture of sparkles showed up on the computer screen. This is a scan with a gamma-camera. The detector is a limited size and cannot " see " the whole body at once, hence the need to photograph a part at a time. The sparkles are the individual gamma rays which build up to make the picture. Time and quality of picture are at odds here, you could get a better picture if you waited longer, but 1 hour total is a realistic time. > Pinpoint scan: I laid on an even narrower table and they positioned a > funnel-shaped machine at the neck area of my body and I had to lay there > very still. The funnel just had a little opening on it. If I remember > right (you know this only happened yesterday and once I knew they were > looking at " something " I seemed to lose track of time.) the moved it to > a couple of areas on my neck, but not for as long as the body scan. This sounds like a gamma camera with a pinhole colimator (the colimator is the camera's equivalent of a lens). This produces a magnified, higher resolution picture of a much smaller area. Sensitivity is very, very low and it can only be done on an area of significant uptake. > > Uptake scan: I sat up in a chair and they put a dental-type x-ray > machine up to my neck. It stayed there for a little bit, then I had to > hold a piece of lead (4x4x1/2 " ) in front of my neck while they put the > machine up there. Don't ask my why. I should have asked more but > wasn't thinking of that right then. I suspect that this is not a scan, it's a measurement. The device you held against your neck is a scintillation probe (a radiation detector - similar to but completely fifferent from a geiger counter). The first measurement would have picked up radiation from the whole neck, but also the salivary glands and any radioactivity further afield, such as in the chest or stomach. The second measurement would remove most of the radioactivity from the thyroid area, thus giving a count for 'other areas'. Thyroid only counts is then just a subtraction of the two numbers. Ian Adam Radiation Safety Officer The Institute of Cancer Research Cotswold Road Sutton Surrey SM2 5NG Tel: 020 8722 4250 Fax: 020 8722 4300 EMail: iana@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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