It’s Time to Celebrate!
=========================

* Kathy S. Thomas

![Figure1](http://tech.snmjournals.org/https://tech.snmjournals.org/content/jnmt/48/1/1/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/48/1/1/F1)

Kathy S. Thomas, MHA, CNMT, PET, FSNMMI-TS

This year marks an historic event for the Technologist Section—it’s our 50th anniversary! As part of the “epic” celebration activities scheduled for this event, *JNMT* will publish a 50th anniversary history supplement, which will be featured at the annual meeting in New Orleans. In collecting and reviewing data to include in the supplement, Norman Bolus, immediate past president of the Technologist Section and past editor of *JNMT,* and I had the rare opportunity to explore the historical archives of the Technologist Section. It was fascinating to look through the collection, to see the first *JNMT,* pictures from the many events celebrated over the years, and review the countless documents that record the evolution of the Section and its leadership for the past 50 years. It is intriguing to see how the initial innovative ideas of those founding technologists, coupled with their energy and commitment, developed to become the organization of today that supports us as nuclear medicine professionals.

From its humble beginnings in 1970, the Technologist Section continues to grow and expand to meet the ever-changing needs of its membership. At the “birth” of the Technologist Section in July 1970, the Section had a very basic structure, including elected leadership (chairman, chairman-elect, treasurer, and secretary-historian) and the following committee chairmen: membership, nominating and scientific teaching. As interests and needs were identified, new committees were added. The original continuing education committee was formed following the 1971 annual meeting in Los Angeles and charged with 2 important tasks: improve the teaching sessions offered at the annual meeting and identify the educational needs of technologists. Looking at the diversity of committees in today’s Technologist Section, it is clear that the needs of the technologist community have grown significantly and the structure put in place by those pioneer technologists continues to successfully meet those needs as identified. Want to learn more about the history of the Technologist Section? Watch for the 50th anniversary supplement that will be published in June 2020.

In this issue, the continuing education articles offer a wide range of topics. In the December *JNMT* issue, Wilnellys Moore and Sarah A. Frye launched a comprehensive review of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) that concludes in this issue (1). The second offering, written by Kriti Ahuja and colleagues, provides a comprehensive discussion on 18F-sodium fluoride PET imaging for bone metastasis (2). The final continuing education article, written by Shelley Acuff and colleagues, discusses the clinical and technical considerations for PET brain imaging for dementia (3).

In the December 2019 issue, Terrence Z. Wong and colleagues (4) discussed a quality improvement project to reduce the injection infiltration rate in their PET/CT department. In this issue, James Crowley offers the Practical Pointer that summarizes the specific changes and corrections made to accomplish the significant improvements reported (5).

The scientific manuscripts included in this issue offer a number of interesting discussions. In imaging, in vivo hormonal sensitivity using the kinetics of gallbladder emptying during cholecystokinine cholescintigraphy as the indicator is presented (6). Additional discussions include bladder activity on 18F-fluciclovine PET/CT; the clinical application of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT); asymmetric energy windowing on bone scintigraphy; and measuring metabolic tumor volume in Hodgkin Lymphoma.

The reduction of radiation exposure continues to be an important topic of concern among health-care professionals, patients, and the public. Three manuscripts on this topic are offered from all 3 perspectives: the public, the patient, and the personnel in nuclear medicine. Razi Muzaffar and colleagues look at the radiation exposure to the public from an 18F-FDG PET/CT scan and offer a simple method to significantly reduce that exposure (7). This discussion is followed by 2 additional discussions for lowering radiation exposure to the patient and nuclear medicine personnel.

Additional discussions, tips, and techniques as well as several teaching cases are also included in this issue.

*JNMT* is always looking for new topics, clinical research, continuing educational articles, protocols, tips, and pointers. If you have ideas or suggestions or are considering writing, but maybe need some help getting started, please contact me at ksthomas0412{at}msn.com. Help is available! If writing just isn’t your thing, but you’re willing to share your expertise by becoming a reviewer for *JNMT,* please contact me!

## REFERENCES

1.  1.Moore W, Frye S. Review of HIPAA, part 2: limitations, rights, violations, and role for the imaging technologist. J Nucl Med Technol. 2020;48:17–23.
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo3OiI0OC8xLzE3IjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MTc6Ii9qbm10LzQ4LzEvMS5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=) 

2.  2.Ahuja K, Sotoudeh H, Galgano SJ, et al. 18F-sodium fluoride PET: history, technical feasibility, mechanism of action, normal biodistribution, and diagnostic performance in bone metastasis detection compared with other imaging modalities. J Nucl Med Technol. 2020;48:9–16.
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo2OiI0OC8xLzkiO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoxNzoiL2pubXQvNDgvMS8xLmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ==) 

3.  3.Acuff S, Mathotaarachchi S, Zukotynske K, Osborne D, Subramaniam R. Clinical and technical considerations for brain PET imaging for dementia. J Nucl Med Technol. 2020;48:5–8.
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo2OiI0OC8xLzUiO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoxNzoiL2pubXQvNDgvMS8xLmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ==) 

4.  4.Wong TZ, Benefield T, Masters SC, et al. Quality improvement initiatives to assess and improve PET/CT injection infiltration rates at multiple centers. J. Nucl. Med. Technol. 2019;47:326–331.
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo4OiI0Ny80LzMyNiI7czo0OiJhdG9tIjtzOjE3OiIvam5tdC80OC8xLzEuYXRvbSI7fXM6ODoiZnJhZ21lbnQiO3M6MDoiIjt9) 

5.  5.Crowley J. Injection integrity in 2020. J Nucl Med Technol. 2020;48:3–4.
    
    [FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo2OiI0OC8xLzMiO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoxNzoiL2pubXQvNDgvMS8xLmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ==) 

6.  6.Miller LJ, Harikumar KG, Desai AJ, et al. Kinetics of gallbladder emptying during cholecystokinin cholescintigraphy as an indicator of in vivo hormonal sensitivity. J Nucl Med Technol. 2020;48:40–45.
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo3OiI0OC8xLzQwIjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MTc6Ii9qbm10LzQ4LzEvMS5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=) 

7.  7.Muzaffar R, Koester E, Frye S, et al. Development of simple methods to reduce the exposure of the public to radiation from patients who have undergone 18F-FDG PET/CT. J Nucl Med Technol. 2020;48:63–67.
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://tech.snmjournals.org/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiam5tdCI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo3OiI0OC8xLzYzIjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MTc6Ii9qbm10LzQ4LzEvMS5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=)