Abstract
Mucociliary clearance is impaired in many diseases of the respiratory system. We have developed a method for measuring tracheal mucus velocity by the dynamic study of a single point source of radioactivity deposited in the trachea by cricothyroid injection. Preliminary results suggest that patients with airways disease have very low tracheal mucus velocities (<2 mm·min-1). The aim of this experiment was to explore the ability of current scintillation detection systems to track a single point as it moves in a dynamic study in small increments and at low velocity (movements of the order of 1 mm). Background noise was estimated to contribute an error in positioning of 0.16 mm (1 standard deviation). Overall errors in velocity were estimated at 0.2 mm·min-1. This suggests that standard instrumentation in use in most nuclear medicine departments has the capacity to measure accurately velocities as low as 1 mm·min-1. (
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 553-556 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Nuclear Medicine Communications |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 6 |
Publication status | Published - 2000 |
Externally published | Yes |