Evaluation of a CdTe semiconductor based compact gamma camera for sentinel lymph node imaging
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita di Napoli Federico II, I-80126 Napoli (Italy) and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, I-80126 Napoli (Italy)
Purpose: The authors assembled a prototype compact gamma-ray imaging probe (MediPROBE) for sentinel lymph node (SLN) localization. This probe is based on a semiconductor pixel detector. Its basic performance was assessed in the laboratory and clinically in comparison with a conventional gamma camera. Methods: The room-temperature CdTe pixel detector (1 mm thick) has 256x256 square pixels arranged with a 55 {mu}m pitch (sensitive area 14.08x14.08 mm{sup 2}), coupled pixel-by-pixel via bump-bonding to the Medipix2 photon-counting readout CMOS integrated circuit. The imaging probe is equipped with a set of three interchangeable knife-edge pinhole collimators (0.94, 1.2, or 2.1 mm effective diameter at 140 keV) and its focal distance can be regulated in order to set a given field of view (FOV). A typical FOV of 70 mm at 50 mm skin-to-collimator distance corresponds to a minification factor 1:5. The detector is operated at a single low-energy threshold of about 20 keV. Results: For {sup 99m}Tc, at 50 mm distance, a background-subtracted sensitivity of 6.5x10{sup -3} cps/kBq and a system spatial resolution of 5.5 mm FWHM were obtained for the 0.94 mm pinhole; corresponding values for the 2.1 mm pinhole were 3.3x10{sup -2} cps/kBq and 12.6 mm. The dark count rate was 0.71 cps. Clinical images in three patients with melanoma indicate detection of the SLNs with acquisition times between 60 and 410 s with an injected activity of 26 MBq {sup 99m}Tc and prior localization with standard gamma camera lymphoscintigraphy. Conclusions: The laboratory performance of this imaging probe is limited by the pinhole collimator performance and the necessity of working in minification due to the limited detector size. However, in clinical operative conditions, the CdTe imaging probe was effective in detecting SLNs with adequate resolution and an acceptable sensitivity. Sensitivity is expected to improve with the future availability of a larger CdTe detector permitting operation at shorter distances from the patient skin.
- OSTI ID:
- 22096941
- Journal Information:
- Medical Physics, Vol. 38, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
BrachyView: Proof-of-principle of a novel in-body gamma camera for low dose-rate prostate brachytherapy
Experimental Study of an Easily Controlled Ultra-High-Resolution Pixel-Matched Parallel-Hole Collimator with a Small Cadmium Zinc Telluride Pixelated Gamma Camera System
Related Subjects
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
CDTE SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
COLLIMATORS
COUNTING RATES
GAMMA CAMERAS
GAMMA RADIATION
IMAGES
KEV RANGE 100-1000
LYMPH NODES
MELANOMAS
PATIENTS
PERFORMANCE
PHOTONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SCINTISCANNING
SENSITIVITY
SKIN
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K