This week I have been trying to combine the two still images (anterior and posterior) obtained from gastric emptying scintigraphy into a single, more accurate image that is clearer for the clinician and less affected by the attenuation of the radiation. This has been carried out by calculating the geometric mean of the images, which is the result of the anterior image multiplied by the posterior image square rooted.
I have tried two different methods in order to achieve this, the first by physically combining the two images using the programme ImageJ and the second using mathematical manipulation in Microsoft Excel. As I am working from the records of patients whose scans have already been analysed I can compare the results of my data manipulation to the hospitals current methods.
So far both seem to be feasible and produce very similar results which should be useful to clinicians.