title: A comparison of techniques in the assessment of chest wall thickness and composition.
abstract: The thickness and composition of defined regions of the anterior chest wall are important factors in the assessment of pulmonary plutonium by low-energy x ray counting. Estimates of these quantities are reported for seven male subjects investigated by three laboratories using ultrasonic methods and by a fourth laboratory using magnetic resonance imaging. No important bias was found in any one laboratory's estimates of chest wall thickness relative to those of the others, but differences of up to 6 mm were noted for individual subjects. The discrepancies are believed principally to reflect the different sampling regimes adopted to reach a representative mean chest wall thickness over the region of interest from measurements at selected points. The adipose-tissue component was consistently found to be lower when assessed by magnetic resonance imaging compared with estimates by ultrasound, but the differences were unimportant in the context of plutonium assessment.
authors.affiliation: Harwell Biomedical Research, Harwell Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Absolom
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kruchten
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000737:chemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011005:Plutonium / Q000032:analysis; D013909:Thorax / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D011005:Plutonium