Beta Camera Low Activity Tumor Imaging
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3109/02841869309096148Abstract
A new technique, the beta camera, to complement film autoradiography, with fast quantitative imaging of beta particle-emitting radionuclides has been developed. It consists of a thin plastic scintillator and a light-sensitive microchannel plate detector. The thin tissue sample is mounted on the scintillator. Our first system had a high background and a moderate spatial resolution of 900 μm. We now report an improved system with a photomultiplier tube mounted on the scintillator of the microchannel plate detector. Only events registered by both detectors are accepted. A fast coincidence unit processes the signals, and if a time overlap exists, an event is generated in the beta camera. In the coincidence mode, images with low activity distribution of 201TI (count rate 1 s−1) in 50 μm-thick slices of a human glioma tumor could be recorded with a spatial resolution of 500 pm.