STATISTICS FOR NUCLEAR MEDICINE

STATISTICS

  • refers to the science of dealing with the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of numerical data

  • research in statistics finds applicability in virtually all scientific fields

  • research questions in the various scientific fields motivate the development of new statistical methods and theory.



Statistics is a highly interdisciplinary field



IMPORTANCE IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE

Do we really need to learn this???

  • helps ensure accurate interpretation of diagnostic data

    • such as radiation dosimetry or tracer uptake in PET and SPECT scans

  • measuring how much of a radiotracer has been absorbed by tissues

    • statistical methods ensure that the measurements are accurate and reliable also help in quality control by monitoring machine performance over time

ACCURACY

  • the closeness of the measured value to a standard or true value

  • accuracy of the system is classified into three types as follows

    Additional Info

    • Accuracy is obtained by taking small readings. The small reading reduces the error of the calculation.




    POINT ACCURACY

    • accuracy of the instrument only at a particular point on its scale is known as point accuracy

    • It is important to note that this accuracy does not give any information about the general accuracy of the instrument.


    Additional Info

    • Using a sample instead of the population is also more cost-effective and easier to process.



    ACCURACY AS PERCENTAGE OF SCALE

    RANGE

    • The uniform scale range determines the accuracy of a measurement

    • Consider a thermometer having the scale range up to 500ºC

    • The thermometer has an accuracy of ±0.5 percent of scale range i.e. 0.005 x 500 = ± 2.5 ºC

      Therefore, the reading will have a maximum error of ± 2.5 ºC.



    ACCURACY AS PERCENTAGE OF TRUE

    VALUE

    • type of accuracy of the instruments is determined by identifying the measured value regarding their true value

    • accuracy of the instruments is neglected up to ±0.5 percent from the true value.

ACCURACY

  • how close your measurements are to true to the accepted value