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Longitudinal Tomographic Radioisotopic Imaging with a Scintillation Camera: Theoretical Considerations of a New Method

State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York

Edward P. Stabler

Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York

Correspondence: For reprints contact: John G. McAfee, Dept. of Radiology, State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, N.Y. 13210.

ABSTRACT

A system for gamma-ray tomography is proposed which appears to possess the following desirable features:

1. It possesses a high efficiency of detection equal to the Anger camera when used in its conventional stationary mode.

2. It possesses the capability of accumulating the necessary counting-rate information required for the image formation within a practical time limit of approximately 10 min.

3. The counting-rate information may be processed digitally for the formation of a tomographic image at any desired depth within a few minutes.

4. By the selective summation of counting-rate information for a given depth, the ability to detect small volumes of increased or decreased activity within a large volume of radioactivity should be greatly enhanced.

The proposed instrument system contains, for the most part, components which have already been developed, including the Anger camera, digital magnetic tape storage and a small digital computer. The latter component is already being used in several laboratories for the processing of time-sequence studies performed on the Anger camera. The fabrication of the special collimator and mechanical drive for the detector head should be relatively simple. It is also feasible to produce the tomographic images by analog tape recording and analog computer processing using the principles described above. The analog system would be lower in cost but the computational flexibility would be limited in comparison to the digital system.