Dr. S. Cheenu Kappadath

Associate Member

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Imaging Physics

Research Interests:

• Quantitative SPECT/CT
• Radiopharmaceutical dosimetry and therapy planning
• Optimization of clinical SPECT/CT protocols
• Monte-Carlo simulation studies, iterative reconstruction and volumetric image analysis

The research in my laboratory is directed at developing a systematic study of SPECT/CT acquisition and data analysis specifically for the development of quantitative uptake metrics associated with SPECT imaging. SPECT employs a plethora of radiopharmaceuticals that can be used to assess a wide variety of biochemical and physiological processes. Development of quantitative SPECT for accessing response to therapy, for radionuclide therapy, and for new pharmaceutical development presents excellent high-impact opportunities for research with tremendous implications in the clinical environment.

Depending on the student’s interests, a tutorial in my laboratory would provide experience with clinical nuclear medicine instrumentation (gamma cameras, SPECT/CTs, non-imaging instrumentation), clinical SPECT/CT protocol development, SPECT/CT image generation, reconstruction evaluation techniques, volumetric image analysis, and Monte-Carlo simulation of SPECT acquisition systems.


Selected Publications:

Kappadath SC, Erwin WD, Wendt RE (2006) Observed intercamera variability in clinically relevant performance characteristics for Siemens Symbia gamma cameras. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics 7(4).

Erwin WE, Kappadath SC, Devaraju V, Wendt RE (2006) Performance characteristics of a new SPECT-CT scanner for imaging Tc-99m and In-111. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 47(5), Supplement 1, 405.

Kappadath SC, Erwin WE, Wendt RE (2007) A novel method to evaluate gamma camera rotational uniformity and sensitivity variation. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 48(5), Supplement 2, 162.

Kappadath SC, Wendt RE (2007) Assessment of the radiation shielding for a busy PET/CT facility. Medical Physics 34(6), 2597.

Kappadath SC, Pan T, Erwin WD, Mawlawi O (2007) Analysis of the dependence of PET/CT quantification on iterative reconstruction parameters. IEEE Medical Imaging Conference M26-220.

Mawlawi O, Kappadath SC, Pan T, Macapinlac H (2008) Factors affecting quantification in PET/CT imaging. Current Medical Imaging Reviews 4.

Additional Publications

Program Affiliation:

Program in Medical Physics