Summary of Work at Vanderbilt University

1. TLD confirmation of “reciprocity”, a study done in response to a query from Walter Snyder. I used TLD’s to measure the radiation dose on patients to check the accuracy of standard man/MIRD dose with estimates being made by W.S. Snyder and others at ORNL.
2. I started by using the steel room, to measure the activity in phantoms. I found that the scheme developed by James Watts before me neglected self-attenuation by the source, so I worked out a correction for this. It was published in Physics in Medicine and Biology.
3. I studied combined emission and transmission scans with the steel room. Jim Patton designed and ordered for me a 1 mCi Ba-133 source from ICN, which I put into a collimator hole to do both scans. The steel room handler Judd Parker wrote for the PDP-9 allowed me to collect count data from the SCA’s, so I got emission and transmission scans at the same time. A good thing, because most subjects didn’t like the steel room. As I used and tested it more and more, its sensitivity and accuracy really impressed me. It was a very well-designed piece of equipment.
4. In order to determine the self-attenuation correction, I had to learn to use the department’s new ultrasound scanner. This was not a clinical service then (~1972), and I was instructed in its use by Dr. David Krause and a technologist named Annie. The unit was a binary storage scope imager. An image would be built up on the screen which I would either photograph on Polaroid or not. Then the screen was erased and the next slice done, etc.

TLD’s were learned by first reading Cameron’s book. By the time Cameron himself came to Vanderbilt, I already had significant experience with them, working with the Radiation Safety Office in their goal of switching from film badges to TLD badges. I found I had to correct the TLD readings for reader pan reflectivity. To do this, I obtained some Ra-226 from Dr. Hardy in Astronomy to give me a constant sealed light source (I hope). I wonder what happened to that Ra-226 source. It was probably a few microcuries.

When I completed my thesis, I stayed at Vanderbilt working in Nuclear Medicine for another 11 years. I went to Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans in 1985 and have been here since. Both Ochsner and I did not know what to expect, but over the years, Ochsner has grown, and the leaders here have come to learn what a physicist can do for them. They have also experienced the importance of ACR accreditation for reimbursement. While at Ochsner, I have seen the growth of ACR accreditation, development of MQSA, and development of the Joint Commission and CMS.

When I left Vanderbilt, I knew Nuclear Medicine, ultrasound, and MRI very well, but not general radiology. I learned most of that on the job at Ochsner, where I have done the physics teaching in the residency program. Residents from Tulane, LSU-New Orleans, and LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in Baton Rouge have also sat in on my lectures, which are sent to them via the Internet. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, I have been one of the few teaching physicists in New Orleans. I have also taught visiting physicists how to do mammography surveys – mostly those from “West Physics” in Atlanta.

While I was not happy to leave Vanderbilt in 1985, I did find a place that needed my abilities, paid well, and I was sufficiently trained that I had little problem in learning new things or adapting to new requirements. So it worked well for all of us.

Publications:

1. Jones, J. P., A. B. Brill and R. E. Johnston (1975). “The validity of an equivalent point source (EPS) assumption used in quantitative scanning.” Phys Med Biol 20(3): 455-464.
2. Parrish, M. D., T. P. Graham, Jr., M. L. Born, J. P. Jones, R. J. Boucek, Jr. and C. L. Partain (1982). “Radionuclide ventriculography for assessment of absolute right and left ventricular volumes in children.” Circulation 66(4): 811-819.
3. Parrish, M. D., T. P. Graham, Jr., H. W. Bender, J. P. Jones, J. Patton and C. L. Partain (1983). “Radionuclide angiographic evaluation of right and left ventricular function during exercise after repair of transposition of the great arteries. Comparison with normal subjects and patients with congenitally corrected transposition.” Circulation 67(1): 178-183.
4. Parrish, M. D., T. P. Graham, Jr., M. L. Born, J. P. Jones, R. J. Boucek, Jr., M. Artman and C. L. Partain (1983). “Radionuclide stroke count ratios for assessment of right and left ventricular volume overload in children.” Am J Cardiol 51(2): 261-264.
5. Runge, V. M., T. H. Rand, J. A. Clanton, J. P. Jones, D. G. Colley, C. L. Partain and A. E. James, Jr. (1983). “Work in progress: radionuclide imaging of indium-111-labeled eosinophils in mice.” Radiology 147(2): 563-565.
6. Kulkarni, M. V., M. P. Sandler, M. I. Shaff, J. P. Jones, J. A. Patton, C. L. Partain and A. E. James (1985). “Clinical magnetic resonance imaging with nuclear medicine correlation.” J Nucl Med 26(8): 944-957.
7. Runge, V. M., T. H. Rand, J. A. Clanton, J. P. Jones, D. G. Colley, C. L. Partain and A. E. James, Jr. (1985). “111In-labeled eosinophils: localization of inflammatory lesions and parasitic infections in mice.” Int J Nucl Med Biol 12(2): 135-144.