Development of Program for Renal Function Study with Quantification Analysis of Nuclear Medicine Image

Song, Ju Young; Lee, Hyoung Koo; Suh, Tae Suk; Choe, Bo Young; Shin, Kyung Sub; Chung, Yong An; Kim, Sung Hoon; Chung, Soo Kyo

Abstract

PURPOSE: In this study, we developed a new software tool for the analysis of renal scintigraphy which can be modified more easily by a user who needs to study new clinical applications, and the appropriateness of the results from our program was studied.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The analysis tool was programmed with IDL5.2 and designed for use on a personal computer running Windows. For testing the developed tool and studying the appropriateness of the calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), 99mTc-DTPA was administered to 10 adults in normal condition. In order to study the appropriateness of the calculated mean transit time (MTT), 99mTc-DTPA and 99mTc-MAG3 were administered to 11 adults in normal condition and 22 kidneys were analyzed. All the images were acquired with ORBITOR, the Siemens gamma camera.
RESULTS
With the developed tool, we could show dynamic renal images and time activity curve (TAC) in each ROI and calculate clinical parameters of renal function. The results calculated by the developed tool were not different statistically from the results obtained by the Siemens application program (Tmax: p=0.68, Relative Renal Function: p=1.0, GFR: p=0.25) and the developed program proved reasonable. The MTT calculation tool proved to be reasonable by the evaluation of the influence of hydration status on MTT.
CONCLUSION
We have obtained reasonable clinical parameters for the evaluation of renal function with the software tool developed in this study. The developed tool could prove more practical than conventional, commercial programs.