The aim of PMOD's basic application courses is to teach the participants the effective use of the major PMOD tools. Brief presentations will outline the principles behind the different types of data analysis. They will be complemented by live demonstrations. Ample time will be available for individual practice based on a workbook and for interacting with the trainers.

The participants are required to bring their own notebooks. Each participant will be given a USB flash key with the latest PMOD version as well as training data sets. PMOD can be started directly from the key, such that the configuration of the notebook will remain untouched. As a courtesy, the key can be taken home and will work for another two months. This will give the participants the opportunity to complete their studies if needed, and to try the PMOD tools on their own data.

The PMOD basic application course is being offered biannually at PMOD's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. After a highly successful first edition two years ago, this course will be the second of its kind to be offered in Japan. It is scheduled right before the 2010 World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) which will take place in Kyoto, Japan, on September 8-11, and where PMOD will be involved as an exhibitor.

Upon completion of the training the participants will be able to:

• Exploit the wealth of image presentations and layouts,
• Apply the filtering and image processing tools,
• Define Volumes-of-Interest (VOIs) using manual and automatic methods and calculate their statistics,
• Calculate time-activity curves and submit them to the kinetic modeling tool,
• Understand the different types of models and apply them in the general and pixel-wise modeling tool,
• Match multi-modal images of a single patient by manual and automatic methods,
• Spatially normalize a brain image to a brain atlas,
• Select among the available image fusion techniques,
• Perform pixel-wise algebra with matched series, eg. to calculate a perfusion reserve,
• Apply segmentation techniques to extract organ surfaces and render them in 3D,
• Project functional information as a texture onto an organ surface.
  
  

The course is aimed at participants with a basic to intermediate skill level. It is primarily designed for existing and prospective PMOD users who:

• Started with PMOD recently,
• Wish to extend their knowledge and interact with the developers of the software,
• Would like to evaluate modules which are not available in their purchased installation.