Date of Award
Summer 1981
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
For as long as I can remember I have always had a sincere admiration for those in the medical profession. My engineering background coupled with my intense desire to be part of the "helping mankind" sector, led me to an occupation as an engineer in a medical orientated industry. While acting as a company representative at a local hospital which was in the process of evaluating the first clinical shipment of a Nuclear medicine computer, an emergency occurred. A patient who was undergoing a ventilation/perfusion study had started to expire. Within seconds a team of doctors, nurses and technicians were assisting her as I feebly continued the acquisition at the computer. Soon whispers of previous leg blood clots and suspected pulmonary embolus were heard. My helplesness [sic] eased as the physician expressed an interest in the lung data acquired prior to the incident, and seemed to be pleased with the result. At that point I realized the importance of the computer in the nuclear medicine department, and the equally important role of the engineer who can assure that the diagnostic information is as optimum as possible. My goal in this Thesis was to better develop the diagnosis of lung disorders by applying digital image enhancement and registration techniques to nuclear lung scintigraphs. This analysis would produce a method which will automatically correct for two inherent and serious problems in lung ventilation/perfusion images, statistical noise and image registration. The end result after many long hours and much effort is included in this manuscript.
Recommended Citation
Doheny, Barbara J., "Digital Computer Analysis of Nuclear Lung Scintigraphs: A Method to Automatically Align and Enhance Lung Images" (1981). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 4533.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/4533