In this work, a major effort has been made to establish an Internet accessible system for medical imaging simulation as a convenient service under the cloud computing environment. First, an Internet accessible, medical imaging education platform has been developed. It includes teaching and dynamic assessment tracking system for five commonly used imaging modalities. The system is integrated by the open source MySQL database software that manages updating materials and also tracks students’ learning engagements, which allow the reliability and appropriateness of the on-line teaching material and assessment methods to be optimized. The evaluation results have shown increased learning gains promisingly. Second, a prototype simulation service platform has been established. It is based on a job-oriented work flow to provide different kinds of service to users to perform medical imaging simulation. These simulations not only include the straightforward CT data reconstruction based on Radon transform, but also the sophisticated PET imaging simulation based on GATE as well. The QGATE’s client-server configuration can manage the GATE system to queue and monitor the submitted simulation scripts and return simulation results. The system is suitable for classroom training and easy to use for students or new users to the field of nuclear medicine imaging simulation. Finally, based on the developed simulation platform, a simulation study on PET imaging has been carried out. Event-based dynamic justification method has been tested based on the phantoms generated by NCAT associated with different breathing signals. The results show its potential capability of motion correction for PET data acquisition.

The optimisation of image quality in medical imaging techniques is a significant factor in favourable patient prognoses. The number of counts in a nuclear medicine image is one factor in determining the diagnostic value of the image. The current study aims to determine the variation in counts in whole-body bone scan images with patient height and weight. Three separate studies were undertaken as part of the investigation. First, 65 whole-body bone scans were analysed together with patient height, weight, age and sex. Weight was found to the most important anatomy influence on image counts. However, significant influences from patient sex and age meant that a useful relationship between image counts and patient anatomy based solely on height and weight could not be determined. For the second study, a model of General Electric Millennium MG gamma camera was created and validated within the SIMIND Monte Carlo software. The results indicate that the model is an accurate representation of the gamma camera. Third, the 4D NCAT whole-body patient phantom was modified to represent the average male and female clinical study participants. The phantoms were used in conjunction with the gamma camera model to simulate the whole-body bone scan procedure. The counts in the simulated images were consistent with the average measured counts of the clinical study indicating that it is feasible to use the NCAT phantom for nuclear medicine bone imaging. However, the phantom’s method of activity distribution should be refined to allow a more realistic distribution of activity throughout the skeleton.

The optimisation of image quality in medical imaging techniques is a significant factor in favourable patient prognoses. The number of counts in a nuclear medicine image is one factor in determining the diagnostic value of the image. The current study aims to determine the variation in counts in whole-body bone scan images with patient height and weight. Three separate studies were undertaken as part of the investigation. First, 65 whole-body bone scans were analysed together with patient height, weight, age and sex. Weight was found to the most important anatomy influence on image counts. However, significant influences from patient sex and age meant that a useful relationship between image counts and patient anatomy based solely on height and weight could not be determined. For the second study, a model of General Electric Millennium MG gamma camera was created and validated within the SIMIND Monte Carlo software. The results indicate that the model is an accurate representation of the gamma camera. Third, the 4D NCAT whole-body patient phantom was modified to represent the average male and female clinical study participants. The phantoms were used in conjunction with the gamma camera model to simulate the whole-body bone scan procedure. The counts in the simulated images were consistent with the average measured counts of the clinical study indicating that it is feasible to use the NCAT phantom for nuclear medicine bone imaging. However, the phantom’s method of activity distribution should be refined to allow a more realistic distribution of activity throughout the skeleton.

A study has been conducted to compare conventional pavements and perpetual pavements with a particular emphasis on perpetual pavements. One of the main drawbacks of conventional pavements and motivations for this work is the maintenance required for hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements with sub-drainage systems. Perpetual pavements, as the name suggests, are designed with a long life. However, this is a relatively new concept and there are still many unknowns concerning their performance. This dissertation was written to answer some of the questions. The study examines structural response and performance of perpetual pavements. Also, deterioration and performance of perpetual pavements will be contrasted to conventional pavements. Empirical data from the National Center of Asphalt Technology (NCAT) Test Track study was obtained, analyzed and used as a basis for evaluating theoretical models. Computational models for both conventional and perpetual pavements were constructed and analyzed using the general purpose finite element analysis software ABAQUS. Geometry, materials and loading are modeled with sufficient accuracy. This research examined several types of responses of perpetual pavements. It extends the traditional criteria of pavement distress by suggesting that longitudinal strain at the surface of a pavement HMA layer as an important criterion. Shear strain was studied and it provides a reasonable explanation of some distresses in pavements. By studying the FEA results from conventional and perpetual pavements and a thorough investigation of the thickness effects, it provides some rationale on why strain at the top of thick pavements is critical. The effects of dynamic wheel loadings are presented. Finally, the effect of environment, specifically temperature and moisture, on perpetual pavements are studied.