• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.291-299
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• 1997

As a microimaging device detecting gamma rays emitted from small lesions or tumors during operation, the intraoperative surgical probe has been proposed and is now under development. We have designed a multipurpose portable gamma prove system and evaluated the performance both for the absolute counting purpose of residual radioactivities and for the localizing capability of gamma events using the NaI(Tl) crystal and two types of photomultiplier tubes(PMTs). Counting efficiencies in the range of routine clinical use of radiation dose were measured using the assembly of single channel PMTs and 0.5 inch thick NaI(Tl) crystal of 1 inch diameter. The positioning of gamma events for imaging purpose requires the multiple channel PMTs with appropriate positioning electronics. We have designed a simple and reliable positioning circuit based on the concept of modified Anger. In preliminary experiments using the multiple channel PMT of 3 inch diameter and the dim lighth source, we were able to trace and localize the correct position with reduced positioning error by the use of two multiplier/divider chipset and simplified peripherals. The energy resolutions for the counting gamma probe measured as full width at half maximum(FWHM) for Cs-137, F-18, Tc-99m were 12%, 13%, and 36%, respectively. The spatial resolution for the imaging gamma probe measured as FWHM for green LED was 2.9 mm. The results indicate that the currently developing probe is very promising and could be very useful for many applications in nuclear medicine. Future studies will include developing collimators, improving interface hardwares, and evaluating the system with clinical data.