Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, Vol 26, Issue 4 257-261, Copyright © 1998 by Society of Nuclear Medicine
Head movement in normal subjects during simulated brain imaging
H Patterson, GH Clarke, R Guy and WJ McKay
Department of Medical Radiations Science, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia.
OBJECTIVE: Videotape images of 30 volunteers were used to classify and
measure head movements that may occur during brain imaging. METHODS: A
simple videotape setup was designed to record simultaneously the lateral
and vertex views of the subject's head. Volunteer subjects were positioned
for brain imaging and their heads were videotaped for 2 hr. Head movement
was identified and measured. RESULTS: All subjects demonstrated angular
movement within the transaxial plane (rotation of the head). There was
angular movement in the sagittal plane and translation of the transaxial
plane. There was no movement of the coronal plane, nor was there any
translational movement of the sagittal plane. CONCLUSION: The most dominant
head movement was rotation. The effects of other factors such as height,
weight, age, smoking habits, and caffeine and alcohol intake could not be
determined with this sample size.
