Open AccessIntroducing the GammaPen: All-in-One Gamma Probe for Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Author(s) -
Aram Radnia,
Hamed Abdollahzadeh,
Behnoosh Teimourian,
Mohammad Hossein Davood Abadi Farahani,
Mohammad Reza Ay
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
frontiers in biomedical technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2345-5837
pISSN - 2345-5829
DOI - 10.18502/fbt.v8i2.6519
Subject(s) - scintillator , detector , gamma camera , electromagnetic shielding , sentinel lymph node , nuclear medicine , image resolution , gamma probe , materials science , sensitivity (control systems) , optics , biomedical engineering , medicine , physics , engineering , electronic engineering , cancer , breast cancer , composite material
Purpose: Using an itra-operative gamma probe after injection of radiotracer during surgery helps the surgeon to identify the sentinel lymph node of regional metastasis through the detection of radiation. This work reports the design and specification of an integrated gamma probe (GammaPen), developed by our company.
Materials and Methods: GammaPen is a compact and fully integrated gamma probe. The detector module consists of a thallium-activated Cesium Iodide (CsI (Tl)) scintillator, and a Silicon Photo Multiplier (SiPM), shielded using Tungsten housing. Probe sensitivity, spatial resolution and angular resolution in air and water, and side and back shielding effectiveness were measured to evaluate the performance of the probe based on NEMA NU3 standard.
Results: The sensitivity of the probe in the air/water at distances of 10, 30, and 50 mm is 18784/176800, 3500/3050, and 1575/1104 cps/MBq. The spatial and angular resolutions in the air/scattering medium are 40/47 mm and 77/87 degrees at a 30 mm distance from the probe. The detector shielding effectiveness and leakage sensitivity are 99.91% and 0.09%, respectively.
Conclusion: The results and surgeon experience in the operating room showed that GammaPen can be effectively used for sentinel lymph node localization.