%0 Journal Article %T Body Outlining Using Tc-99m Filled Flood Source for Lymphoscintigraphy Imaging %A Mehdi Momennezhad %A Hamid Reza Haghighi Kakhki %A Ramin Sadeghi %J Iranian Journal of Nuclear Medicine %D 2011 %I %X Introduction: In the current study, we evaluated the feasibility of body outlining using Tc-99m filled flood source forlymphoscintigraphy imaging. Methods: 80 patients were included in the study. Sentinel node mapping was done using Tc-99m Antimony sulfide colloid. For outlining the body a Tc-99m filled flood source was used which was placed behind or lateral to the patients for Anterior and lateral images respectively. The flood source was filled with 0.5 mCi, 1 mCi, 2 mCi, and 5 mCi for 10, 47, 10, and 3 patients respectively. The quality of outline images was assessed by two nuclear medicine specialists independently. Radiation exposure to the patients was also evaluated using thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD-100). Results: The quality of body contour images were good in images taken by 1, 2, and 5 mCi filled flood source. However the quality of images was poor in 8 out of 10 lymphoscintigraphies taken by 0.5 mCi filled flood source. The measured dose rate from the Tc-99m flood source was 1.07 ¡À 0.04 ¦ÌSv/MBq/hr (39 ¡À 1.5 ¦ÌSv/mCi/hr) or 3.25 ¦ÌSv for 5 min acquisition times. Conclusion: Body outlining is feasible with Tc-99m filled flood source. To assure high quality, at least 1 mCi of Tc-99m pertechnetate should be used for filling the source. This technique can be very useful especially when Co-57 is not available or has decayed. The need to prepare the flood source for each patient and difficulty in handling the source especially for the lateral views are the major limitations. %K Sentinel Node %K Tc-99m-Antimony Sulfide Colloid %K Lymphoscintigraphy %K Body Outlining %K Flood Source %U http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/19860.pdf&manuscript_id=19860