Nuovo prototipo di probe dotato di 3 rivelatori. Vengono eseguite le prove di funzionamento
Purpose: The sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy technique has highly evolved during the last 20 yr. Consequently, the intraoperative use of Gamma Probes (GPs) for SLN mapping is increased. Thispreliminary study evaluates a novel directional GP prototype. This proof-of-concept prototype isdesigned to identify the direction of radiopharmaceuticals uptakes, by combining the informationfrom multiple detectors. The purpose of this work is to develop a tool able to effectively guide thesurgeon reducing the surgery time.Methods: The proposed prototype consists of three CsI(Tl) scintillation crystals, each coupled withan S10931 silicon photomultiplier (Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Hamamatsu, JP). The three detectorslie on the same plane with an angle of 30° between them. The central detector is placed as in a com-mon GP, so it can be used to pinpoint the target tissue. Meanwhile, the lateral sensors provide abroader view of the surgical field. A dedicated data acquisition system digitizes and processes thesignals from the front-end electronics. Finally, an embedded system, based on ARM processor, calcu-lates and displays the acquired count rates. In order to assess the prototype behavior, the isosensitivitycurves for the three detectors were measured. Meanwhile, for the central one, the main quality criteria measurements were also performed (i.e., sensitivity, radial sensitivity, and spatial resolution).Results: For the central detector, the measured sensitivity at the tip of the probe is better than5 cps/kBq. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the radial sensitivity is less than 30° and theFWHM of the lateral sensitivity (spatial resolution) is about 7.2 mm. The central detector measuredisosensitivity distribution shows a narrow profile in agreement with the spatial resolution measured.On the contrary, the two lateral detectors exhibit widespread isosensitivity distributions that mean alarger field of view. The system had shown satisfactory performance and reliability, meeting the mini-mal requirements of gamma probe systems.Conclusions: The prototype presented in this paper allows a rapid localization by the use of thewhole system, while the sole central detector can be used to pinpoint the target source. This device,unlike common GPs, allows localizing simultaneously different areas of radiopharmaceuticalsuptake, thus precisely guiding the surgeon to the region of interest. These preliminary results encour-age to develop a further prototype for intraoperative validation.
Directional probe for radio-guided surgery: A pilot study.
Massari Roberto;Ucci Antonio;D'Elia Annunziata;Campisi Costantino;Soluri Alessandro
2018
Abstract
Purpose: The sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy technique has highly evolved during the last 20 yr. Consequently, the intraoperative use of Gamma Probes (GPs) for SLN mapping is increased. Thispreliminary study evaluates a novel directional GP prototype. This proof-of-concept prototype isdesigned to identify the direction of radiopharmaceuticals uptakes, by combining the informationfrom multiple detectors. The purpose of this work is to develop a tool able to effectively guide thesurgeon reducing the surgery time.Methods: The proposed prototype consists of three CsI(Tl) scintillation crystals, each coupled withan S10931 silicon photomultiplier (Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Hamamatsu, JP). The three detectorslie on the same plane with an angle of 30° between them. The central detector is placed as in a com-mon GP, so it can be used to pinpoint the target tissue. Meanwhile, the lateral sensors provide abroader view of the surgical field. A dedicated data acquisition system digitizes and processes thesignals from the front-end electronics. Finally, an embedded system, based on ARM processor, calcu-lates and displays the acquired count rates. In order to assess the prototype behavior, the isosensitivitycurves for the three detectors were measured. Meanwhile, for the central one, the main quality criteria measurements were also performed (i.e., sensitivity, radial sensitivity, and spatial resolution).Results: For the central detector, the measured sensitivity at the tip of the probe is better than5 cps/kBq. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the radial sensitivity is less than 30° and theFWHM of the lateral sensitivity (spatial resolution) is about 7.2 mm. The central detector measuredisosensitivity distribution shows a narrow profile in agreement with the spatial resolution measured.On the contrary, the two lateral detectors exhibit widespread isosensitivity distributions that mean alarger field of view. The system had shown satisfactory performance and reliability, meeting the mini-mal requirements of gamma probe systems.Conclusions: The prototype presented in this paper allows a rapid localization by the use of thewhole system, while the sole central detector can be used to pinpoint the target source. This device,unlike common GPs, allows localizing simultaneously different areas of radiopharmaceuticalsuptake, thus precisely guiding the surgeon to the region of interest. These preliminary results encour-age to develop a further prototype for intraoperative validation.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
