Essentials of In Vivo Biomedical Imaging
Edited by S. Cherry, R. Badawi, and J Qi, CRC Press, 2015. ISBN: 13 978-1- 4398-9874-1 (book and e-book), xvi + 272 pages, US$89.96.
This three-editor, 13-contributor, seven-chapter text, per the preface, is written for the researcher interested in using the imaging techniques delineated in Chapters 2–6 to accomplish in vivo imaging. It is recognized that readers may have acquired a variety of prior knowledge of some of the subjects; a thorough reading of the text and utilization of the references and (when offered) the suggested further readings should allow most users of this text to become conversant with the several methods discussed and, one hopes, prepared to initiate quantitative imaging studies relating to their area of science. The text is primarily (again, per the introduction) aimed at the macro tissue/organ scale aspects of imaging rather than any involving cellular or smaller investigations. Needless to say, the text is very well illustrated as befits a text on imaging.
Chapter 1 serves—after a four-page listing of abbreviations and acronyms (!)—to introduce the reader to imaging, image characteristics, the history of imaging and applications, and new methodologies under investigation, such as multimodal (e.g., X-ray plus radionuclide) protocols. Then, Chapters 2–6 cover the main areas of imaging concerns presently in use.
Chapter 2 overviews X-ray projection imaging and computed tomography from the basics of X-ray production, interaction with tissues, and interaction/detection and reconstruction as necessary. Dose, signal/ noise considerations, safety, scattering, image quality, resolution, and contrast topics are all nicely and succinctly handled in this good overview. New directions are briefly summarized.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the topic of Chapter 3, and this subject is well covered from the basics of the physics involved and the various techniques used to generate and acquire the desired images. The basic hardware involved is overviewed (again, with safety considerations) as are the current and future directions for MRI imaging.
Ultrasound imaging is overviewed in Chapter 4 from the basic A and B mode approaches to scanning systems, Doppler flow imaging systems, to elasticity related imaging and contrast imaging techniques. New developments and bioeffects are also briefly discussed.
Chapter 5 overviews optical and optoacoustic imaging techniques primarily as applied to small-animal or near-surface and surface studies. Clinical applications are well covered and include such items as fluorescence-guided surgery, breast imaging, skin imaging, and neuroimaging. Radionuclide imaging rounds out the techniques overviewed in Chapter 6, with good coverage of the basic physics of single-photon and positron imaging and related imaging systems. Clinical applications discussed include single and positron imagings of myocardial perfusion and bone tumor metastasis. Several good tables are presented to assist the researcher in nuclide selection for different uses. Multimodal scanning systems are discussed, and several good clinical examples are presented.
This text concludes (Chapter 7) with a very nice overview of quantitative image analysis techniques. The fundamentals of lesion detection are covered, as are basic techniques of region-of-interest considerations, sensitivity and specificity, compartmental modeling, and parameter estimation.
In all, this reviewer considers that this text does a very good job of giving a comprehensive overview of the six areas of imaging used in macroscopic imaging and thus recommends the text for that use. If possible, this reviewer suggests that the potential purchaser obtain (with the text, if desired) the e-book (electronic copy of the text), as this enables one to more fully appreciate the quality of the images used in the textbook. For classroom use, this text could benefit from an expansion, with homework problems and further analyses/ research investigations. Perhaps the authors might consider that next time to broaden the use of the text.