Journal publications are an interesting process. Content is written, reviewed, edited, and formatted months before the publication date. For example, right now, it is early January. The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging is putting the final touches on what looks to be another outstanding Mid-Winter and American College of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting. This exceptional meeting has been designed to provide nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, cardiologists, pharmacists, scientists, lab professionals, and technologists with the latest innovations and techniques in the field, including a dedicated cardiovascular track. Yet, just a few miles from the hotel’s beautiful location, fire is ravaging the Southern California landscape, and thousands of families have lost homes and a lifetime of memories as the fire continues to burn, and those numbers continue to rise. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have lost so much.
In this first issue of 2025, three continuing education articles are offered. At long last, Technegas has finally reached the United States! A look at one of the first U.S. sites to implement this new procedure highlights the need for close collaboration with multiple departments for a successful launch of the procedure (1). A Technegas Practical Protocol follows to support the technical requirements for the procedure (2). The updated Practical Standard for Gastrointestinal Bleeding Scintigraphy (GIBS) highlights the latest approved techniques for recommending, performing, interpreting, and reporting the results of GIBS in adults and children (3). Finally, occupational radiation exposure, especially with the significantly increasing numbers in PET/CT, has resulted in the need to identify alternative methods of delivering radiopharmaceuticals. Shahid et al. provide an overview of available autoinjectors worldwide designed to reduce radiation exposure (4).
Processing and reconstruction protocols play a critical role in the final quality of any imaging study. When time permits, the Imaging Section provides multiple discussions and techniques to improve the accuracy and diagnostic quality of an image (5–7) or identify software discrepancies (8).
Artificial intelligence is becoming the norm in every capacity of life today, including medical imaging and education; however, it has yet to achieve perfection. Currie discusses the use of generative artificial intelligence in generating medical images (9) and in the classroom (10).
Kathy S. Thomas, MHA, CNMT, PET, FSNMMI-TS
Finally, we continue to support our student technologists by encouraging them to enter the publishing world early in their careers. Bebbington et al. share their scientific work on radiation dose savings in personalized CT imaging (11).
These are just a few of the topics in this issue of JNMT. We hope you will benefit from the additional scientific discussions and teaching case studies, which are included when time allows.
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