METHODS: Single-photon-emission computed tomography studies were carried out for plastic bottles of various sizes as target objects containing Technetium-99m placed in a cylindrical water phantom. The phantoms were created to have varying ratios of target activity concentration to background activity concentration (T/B) ranging from 4.00 to 1.25. From the single-photon-emission computed tomography slices, the volume of the target object was estimated using an iterative thresholding method. A unique threshold that estimated the volume of the target object was determined and declared as ideal threshold for each level of background activity. Simple linear regression analysis was carried out to explore the relationship between the actual volume and estimated volume.
RESULTS: The analysis shows a statistically significant linear relationship (P < .01) between actual volume and estimated volume. For all ratios of target activity concentration to background activity concentration studied, the relative errors in estimated volumes of target objects are within ±7%. Thresholds that estimated volume of target objects vary depending on the level of background activity.
CONCLUSIONS: It is clearly demonstrated that background activity highly influenced the volume estimation. Therefore, background activity of the target object needs to be considered when selecting the ideal thresholds to obtain accurate volume estimation of target objects.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer requiring radiation to the oropharyngeal mucosal area were divided in to two groups to receive either radiation alone or radiation plus topical application of pure natural honey. Patients were treated using a 6-MV linear accelerator at a dose rate of 2 Gy per day five times a week up to a dose of 60-70 Gy. In the study arm, patients were advised to take 20 ml of pure honey 15 min before, 15 min after and 6 h post-radiation therapy. Patients were evaluated every week for the development of radiation mucositis using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) grading system.
MAIN RESULTS: There was significant reduction in the symptomatic grade 3/4 mucositis among honey-treated patients compared to controls; i.e. 20% versus 75% ( p 0.00058). The compliance of honey-treated group of patients was better than controls. Fifty-five percent of patients treated with topical honey showed no change or a positive gain in body weight compared to 25% in the control arm ( p 0.053), the majority of whom lost weight.
CONCLUSIONS: Topical application of natural honey is a simple and cost-effective treatment in radiation mucositis, which warrants further multi-centre randomised trials to validate our finding.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The mice were divided into four different groups and received the test extracts and the standard drug (aspirin) for 14 days via force-feeding. On day 15, the mice were injected with 5% acetic acid, and the number of abdominal constriction and elongation of hind limb (writhes) were counted for 20 min.
RESULTS: The numbers of writhes were counted starting after 5 min of the acetic acid injection. The N. sativa extracts significantly reduced the number of writhes as compared to the control group. Both of the extracts revealed a comparable result as referred to the aspirin effects in the mice.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that N. sativa and E. cottonii may possess protective active constituent that is effective in reducing the sensation of pain in mice.