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The Veterinary Nuclear Medicine Society of the ACVR is offering a online short course for ACVR residents, diplomates, and post-trainees.
This short course is designed to present an overview of veterinary nuclear medicine, and how to utilize and interpret various scintigraphic studies. Principles of nuclear medicine including, physics, radiation decay, radioisotopes, radiation equipment, image processing, quality control, artifacts and radiation safety and regulations will be covered. Thyroid scintigraphy, bone scintigraphy, portal and renal scintigraphy will be discussed including image parameters of each study and interpretation of normal and abnormal studies, as well as a few less commonly performed scintigraphic studies. Principles and interpretation of Positron Emission Tomography in small animals and equine extremities will be covered. Radiotherapeutics, including radio-iodine therapy and radiosynoviorthesis with 117mSN colloid, are also included in this course. The content of this course is intended to cover topics of current commonly utilized veterinary nuclear medicine procedures and prepare the attendees to utilize scintigraphy in veterinary practice.
Pre-recorded talks will be available for registrants to view at their leisure for 6 months. Access to the course will be forthcoming after registering. Registrants will receive 14.25 RACE credits after successful completion of course.
Questions can be directed to acvr@pamedsoc.org.
You must purchase THIS short course in advance of signing up for the LIVE LAB on July 15, 2023.
Nuclear Medicine Short Course Schedule:
Principles of Nuclear Medicine: (Best viewed in order listed.)
1. Physics, Principles and Radiation Decay (1 hour)
• understand what isotopes are, what they are used for, what their emissions are, and how they are associated with nuclear medicine.
2. Radiopharmacy & Generators (0.5 hour)
• understand radiation decay, half life, emissions for various radiopharmaceuticals.
3. Radiation Detectors & Equipment (1.25 hour)
• Understand how gas filled and scintillation detectors work, the differences between them, and their uses.
4. Image Processing (1.25 hour)
• Understand image processing for digital image, including matrix size, look up tables, and image processing in spatial and frequency domains.
5. Image Quantification & Count Statistics (0.5 hour)
• Understand concepts of regions of interest, count density, time/activity curves and how image decay can be quantified for static and dynamic studies.
6. Quality Control (0.5 hour)
• Understand importance of and how to perform quality control on nuclear medicine equipment and radiopharmaceuticals (including photopeak, uniformity, sources, quantitative analysis, calibrations).
7. Image Artifacts (0.5 hour)
• Recognize and know how to correct artifacts associated with radioisotope , patient, gamma camera and/or collimator generated artifacts.
8. Radiation Safety & Regulations (0.5 hour)
• Understand radiation safety protocols, practices, radiation limits, dosimetry, and regulations regarding labeling radioactive materials.
Nuclear Medicine Studies: (Can be viewed in any order, except G should follow F.)
A. Thyroid Scintigraphy & Radioiodine Therapy (1.5 hour)
• Understand radioisotopes utilized for thyroid scintigraphy, indications for performing thyroid scans, how to perform and be able to interpret normal versus abnormal bone scans and know physics of radio-iodine therapy, dosage and indications.
B. Bone Scintigraphy (1 hour)
• understand radioisotopes utilized for bone scintigraphy, indications for performing bone scans, how to perform and be able to interpret normal versus abnormal bone scans.
C. Portal Scintigraphy (1.5 hour)
• Understand radioisotopes utilized for portal scintigraphy, indications for performing portal vascular scans, how to perform and be able to interpret normal versus abnormal portal scans.
D. Renal Scintigraphy (1 hour)
• Understand radioisotopes utilized for renal scintigraphy, indications for performing renal scans, how to perform and be able to interpret normal versus abnormal renal scans.
E. Less Commonly Performed Studies (1 hour)
• Understand radiopharmaceuticals utilized, indications, how to perform and be able to interpret normal versus abnormal studies: hepatobiliary scintigraphy, pulmonary perfusion imaging, pulmonary ventilation imaging, lymphoscintigraphy, and neuroendocrine imaging.
F. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) (1.25 hour)
• Be familiar with radiopharmaceuticals utilized in PET, Know what SUV and pair production is, know normal background uptake F-18 FDG PET studies, understand indications and basics of how to interpret normal versus abnormal PET studies.
G. Equine PET (0.5 hour)
• Be familiar with the indications and abnormalities in PET studies in the equine foot.
H. Radiotherapeutics (0.5 hour)
• Be familiar with 117mSn colloid in treating canine osteoarthritis (radiosynoviorthesis) and basic regulations associated with this treatment.