Great moments in TV with medical images/scanners! #10

Mr. Bean has an adventure on the radiology department...

Procrastination with the 3 month thesis blog

I have several friends who are writing their thesis now and I can only wish them the best for the most insane part of a PhD! A great blog about thesis writing is http://3monththesis.com/blog/. James Hayton wrote his PhD thesis in 3 months after months of procrastination and self-doubt. Now he shares what he knows and learns on the blog.

A nice post: 10 tips for being a happy thesis writer. I wasn't!
or How to choose a thesis topic ...

But, I think the best are the videos http://www.youtube.com/user/threemonththesis?feature=watch such as this seminar talk with tips:

Happy Birthday, Röntgen!

This Google doodle was made 2 years ago on the occasion of the X-ray anniversary. Today is the 168th Röntgen anniversary. Herr Röntgen won the Nobel prize in 1901 for his contributions on X-rays production and detection.

Educational Radiology

Radiopaedia is wiki-based collaborative website. It is rapidly growing and has been primarily compiled by radiology residents or fellows from across the world. The site's collective aim is to create the best radiology reference available, and to make it available for FFF: Free, Forever and For all.

http://radiopaedia.org/


The physics section (radiopaedia.org/encyclopaedia/phsyics) is still small, but already has interesting articles:
1.5T vs 3T
Inverse Square Law
Electron-Positron Annihilation

Medical Imaging scientists out there, let's contribute to this website too! Do you know other wiki-based websites in medical imaging?

Best Nuclear Medicine Books

I have talked before of medical imaging books and MRI books. Today I make a compilation of Nuclear Medicine books which I have used so far:

Emission Tomography: The Fundamentals of PET and SPECT. Miles N. Wernick and John N. Aarsvold.
http://www.amazon.com/Emission-Tomography-The-Fundamentals-SPECT/dp/0127444823

 

Positron Emission Tomography: Basic Sciences. Dale L. Bailey, David W. Townsend, Peter E. Valk and Michael N. Maisey.
http://www.amazon.com/Positron-Emission-Tomography-Basic-Sciences/dp/1852337982/ 

Physics in Nuclear Medicine. Simon R. Cherry, James Sorenson, Michael Phelps.

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Nuclear-Medicine-Simon-Cherry/dp/072168341X/

 

Quantitative Analysis in Nuclear Medicine Imaging. Habib Zaidi.

http://www.amazon.com/Quantitative-Analysis-Nuclear-Medicine-Imaging/dp/0387238549

 

 Do you know any other good books?

Great moments in TV with medical images/scanners! #9

This week, Grey's Anatomy episode was full of details about medical imaging. I know it is not a very good series, but it is one of my guilty pleasures and this week was worth it. A compilation of the scenes with the Lodox whole-body scanner are here:

Procrastination with the Pink Shrink

Pink Shrink is a PhD blogger that I follow and how she understands me:

Leonardo Da Vinci and medical images

Before there were medical imaging devices, medical images were provided by experts. This is not intended as diagnosis, but rather as education images. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of these experts. Some of his works are part of the Royal Trust Collection. His drawings were so anatomically accurate that nowadays they are being compared to today's medical images. A more detailed text can be found here.




Here are the links of some of his artwork:
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-the-mechanics-of-man-QGPHH
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/919057/recto-the-skull-sectioned-verso-the-cranium
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/919127/the-brain

Why would scientists share data?

F1000Research is an open access journal for life scientists, with rapid publication, transparent peer review (post-publication) and full data deposition and sharing. Open Access Journal have been widely discussed. I have talked about it here. However, sharing data is barely discussed. This journal has recently shared their experience with data openness:
http://blog.f1000research.com/2013/03/14/data-why-openness-and-sharing-are-important/

They raised several important questions, such as verification of results/conclusions, attracting collaborators or establish that you were the first to obtain those data. Scientists have also been questioned about their views and reported in Data Sharing by Scientists: Practices and Perceptions.

As a researcher, I have sometimes data which I would like to share (patient data can't be shared of course...), but I am torn between "I can't write a paper about the data itself" and "If I share it without caution, someone will use my data and not even acknowledge me and it gave me so much work!".

Did you ever considered sharing your data?

X-rays are art!

And the best sentence ever said about X-rays goes to Nick Versay: "What I want X-ray to do is to excite people and to make them appreciate the world that's around them in a new way."



See more pics in http://www.nickveasey.com/ (click on projects) and follow him in facebook http://www.facebook.com/nickveaseyxray.

To see more about the process, see the video:


I do hope he is being careful about radiation, he should totally use a dosimeter... 

When legislation gets in the way of science

In the next few years, PET imaging will have great advances due to the development and production of new tracers (read more in How many PET tracers do you need?). However, the process of approving a new tracer is not simple and can be a problem for scientists. Moreover, the cost of such production means that countries with less financial freedom are doomed to have only standard tracers. Dr. Gustav von Schulthness has spoken about this problem in ECR 2013 and it has been reported here.

Great moments in TV with medical images/scanners! #8

This week the video is not showing any medical imaging specifically, but it is showing a funny cartoon that everyone from neuroimaging should know! Pinky and the brain are the best!

Procrastination with MRI "Pornography"

This week I have come across the "strangest" MRI videos. The video consists of an MRI acquisition of a couple having sex. The "interesting" part comes after minute 1:30. My first comment was: I can't understand where the actual "interface" between the two people is in some positions. We truly become "One"! Technically I think this must not be easy, because there is not so much space inside the bore and because the couple might not feel very comfortable to do it in such conditions...

Scientist are snobs?

A great friend of mine has suggested that I read the article Lab life: Scientists are snobs. I have read it and I agree with a lot of what is written. I am European, so instead of states which are less funded, we have countries which are less funded than others, because these big labs are indeed in only some of these countries. Coming from a less funded country and lab, I actually always have a good amount of people in my posters, but I rarely get citations to my work... And I have to confess that at conferences, my first priority is to see all presentations and posters from my specific field and only after I go for the big lab names... And do supervisors have more time in small labs? Actually I think it depends on the supervisor...

What are your views on this?

Best MRI books

I have talked before of medical imaging books in this post. Today I make a compilation of the MRI books I have found quite good:

Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and Sequence Design. E. M. Haacke, R. W. Brown, M. R. Thompson, R. Venkatesan.

http://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Resonance-Imaging-Physical-Principles/dp/0471351288

Handbook of MRI Pulse Sequences. M. Bernstein, K. King, X. J. Zhou.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Pulse-Sequences-Matt-Bernstein/dp/0120928612

MRI in Practive. C. Westbrook, C. K. Roth, J. Talbot.

http://www.amazon.com/MRI-Practice-Catherine-Westbrook/dp/1444337432

Handbook of MRI Technique. C. Westbrook.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-MRI-Technique-Catherine-Westbrook/dp/1405160853

MRI: basic Principles and Applications. M. Brown and R. C. Semelka. 

http://www.amazon.com/MRI-Basic-Principles-Applications-Edition/dp/0471433101/

MRI from Picture to Proton. D. McRobbie, E. Moore, M. Graves, M. Prince.

http://www.amazon.com/MRI-Picture-Proton-Donald-McRobbie/dp/052168384X

I think the last four are best to start and the first two are best when your MRI knowledge is already quite good. Do you have other suggestions?

Refurbished imaging systems

This company Block Imaging provides refurbished imaging systems. Not always a new system needs to be bought... And you can also find a list of equipments they are looking for here. The video on top is one of their cute/funny promotion videos.

Is high-field MRI harmful?

Although high-field MRI has been already tested in humans and considered safe to do clinical studies, there is some new evidence concerning high-field MRI. Apparently, there is a link between depression and the high-field MRI radiographers. I was very surprised by this link. The complete news is here.

My personal thought is that working with high-field MRI might cause depression, not because of the high-field itself, but because working with high-field MRI can be a constant "this is not working that well"! Imagine to work with a machine that is constantly giving problems... I would be depressed too!

I hope there is more clarification about this matter in the future. It is time that we know the long term effects of MRI fields.

The risk of medical imaging

In the last few years, there has been in the media several news warning to the effects of medical imaging which use ionizing radiation:

http://ps.columbia.edu/news/new-study-confirms-ps-researchers%E2%80%99-predictions-ct-induced-cancer-kids
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/arrs-roc041912.php
http://coloncancer.about.com/b/2010/12/06/do-ct-scans-cause-cancer.htm

The editor William Hendee of Medical Physics has written an editorial about this topic:
http://online.medphys.org/resource/1/mphya6/v40/i4/p040401_s1?view=fulltext&bypassSSO=1

Most professionals are actually worried that people start refusing to undertake medical exams. Do you think this will happen?

Great moments in TV with medical images/scanners! #7

Breaking Bad shows us another moment. Walt has seen his PET/CT scan previously and knows there is a huge spot, which can mean the cancer has not disappear. Fortunately, it has disappeared and the spot is inflammation of the lungs...which can also appear bright in a PET scan. The full episode shows this details, but here is the conversation between the doctor and the family:

Procrastination with Harlem Shake

You have probably  already spent some time looking at Harlem Shake Videos. Here are some Harlem Shake Radiology videos:




 

Open Access Radiology Education

Open Access Radiology Education is a blog that shows case studies and explains them in a language we can understand: http://radiologypics.com/

Look at this image in the blog:

 A kid just swallowed a penny. Read more about this case here.

ECR Live

European Congress of Radiology ECR 2013 is about to begin and as last year there will be live streaming of some talks, but you need to register. It only takes one minute.

Live Streaming: http://live.myesr.org/ecr2013/

3 major companies even have dedicated webpages of ECR 2013.
http://healthcare.siemens.com/news-and-events/conferences-events-new/siemens-at-ecr-2013
http://www.healthcare.philips.com/main/about/events/ecr/
http://www3.gehealthcare.co.uk/en-GB/Radiology/ECR 

Do you think all conferences should do this?

PhD: to do or not to do?

Following yesterday's post about post-docs, today I talk about PhDs. Most people finish their Master and want to land their first job, other think there is more than finding a job and feel that they have to learn more. These ones end up doing a PhD. If you should do or not, depends on the professional career you want to have. I have not regret at any moment to do a PhD, but maybe that is just me:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=180743

http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/130858-top-5-reasons-do-not-do-phd.html

http://www.findaphd.com/student/study/study-16.asp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/may/03/phd-doctorate-higher-education-love-money

Do you think a PhD is a must or a over-qualification for your career?

Post-doc: industrial or academic?

After doing a PhD, it is time to start thinking what to do next. You can leave research, but if you decide that research is what you want to do, a post-doc is the natural path. You have to think about doing an industrial or an academic post-doc. Both options have advantages and disadvantages and one has to take into account that Europeans and Americans have different views.

I found some interesting articles about this topic, which can be read here:
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj6989-324a
http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/board,28.0.html
http://blog.1degreebio.org/?bid=54
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2008_06_13/science.opms.r0800055
http://scienceadvocacy.org/Blog/2011/01/06/academia-vs-industry-a-former-postdoc%E2%80%99s-perspective/

What do you think? Do you know people which have taken different paths?

The Future of Health

Stanford has again a series of small lectures about the future of health.
Visualizing desire is one of these lectures:

The complete set of lectures is here:
http://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC32BC95C9D7E5959C

Great moments in TV with medical images/scanners! #6

How does a zombie look in MRI? Walking dead shows us!

Procrastination with ...

Dear random or frequent blog reader,

This week I have been procrastinating and I haven't post in this blog as much as I should. I had some thinking to do. I promise that from tomorrow, everything will be back to normal and I'll be posting once per day.

To follow this blog, you can use Google reader and now also Facebook or Google+ (check the links on the right).

Have a nice weekend!