NALINI SINGH

ROLL No. 10041

MBT – I
BIOPHYSICS
 Introduction
 Radio pharmaceuticals
 System components of Gamma camera
 Principle of Gamma camera
 Types of Gamma camera
 Applications
 Advanced techniques
 Summary
 References
 Gamma camera was invented by H. Anger in the 1960s
and is often referred to as the Anger camera.
 Why γ rays?
Gamma rays are chosen since alpha and beta particles
would be absorbed by tissues and not be detected
outside the body, and can easily stopped by lead.
 Technitium-99m is most widely used tracer because it
has a half-life of 6 hours.
 Isotope of molybdenum-99, with a half-life of 66 hours,
which progressively decays to technetium-99.
 Tracers are generally short-lived isotopes combined with
other chemical compounds or pharmaceuticals to form
radiopharmaceuticals which permit specific physiological
processes to be scrutinized. They can be given by injection,
inhalation or orally.

Doctors and chemists have identified a number of chemicals

which are absorbed by specific organs.

With this knowledge, radiopharmacists are able to attach

various radioisotopes to biologically active substances.

Once a radioactive form of one of these substances enters the

body, it is incorporated into the normal biological processes
and excreted in the usual ways.
 It has a half-life of six hours which is long enough to examine
metabolic processes yet short enough to minimize the
radiation dose to the patient.
 Technetium-99m decays ; which emits gamma rays and low
energy electrons. Since there is no high energy beta emission
the radiation dose to the patient is low.
 The low energy gamma rays it emits easily escape the human
body and are accurately detected by a gamma camera. Once
again the radiation dose to the patient is minimized.
 The chemistry of technetium is so versatile it can form tracers
by being incorporated into a range of biologically-active
substances to ensure that it concentrates in the tissue or organ
of interest.
 Collimator

 NaI(Tl) crystal

 Light Guide (optical coupling)

 Photo multiplier-Tube array

 Amplifier

 Display
The tracer is injected into the patient. The radiation
emitted from the patient is detected using a gamma
camera.

A typical gamma camera is 40 cm in diameter –

large enough to examine body tissues or specific
organs. The gamma rays are given off in all
directions but only the ones which travel towards
the gamma camera will be detected.
A gamma camera consists of three main parts:
 A collimator.
 A detector.
 Electronic systems.

electronic systems

detector

collimator
The Collimator

 The collimator is usually made of lead and

it contains thousands of tiny holes.
 Only gamma rays which travel through the
holes in the collimator will be detected.
 Four types of collimators.
The Detector

 The detector is a scintillation crystal and is

usually made of Sodium Iodide with traces of
Thallium added.
 The detector is a scintillation crystal and it
converts the gamma rays that reach it into
light energy.
The Electronic Systems

• The electronic systems detect the light energy

received from the detector and converts it into
electrical signals.
Principle of PMT
 Anger camera can be used for static or dynamic
imaging

 Stationary cameras are designed to be at a fixed

location while mobile camera has wheels.
 There is a time
delay between
injecting the tracer
and the build-up of
radiation in the
organ.
 Static studies are
performed on the
brain, bone or lungs
scans.
 The amount of
radioactive build-
up is measured
over time.
 Dynamic studies
are performed on
the kidneys and
heart.
Renograms are dynamic images of the kidneys and
they are performed for the following reasons:

 To assess individual kidney and/or bladder

function.
 To detect urinary tract infections.
 To detect and assess obstructed kidney(s).
 To detect and assess vesico-ureteric reflux.
 To assess kidney transplant(s).
 The tracer is injected into the patient.
 The radioactive material is removed from
the bloodstream by the kidneys.
 Within a few minutes of the injection, the
radiation is concentrated in the kidneys.
 After 10 – 15 minutes, almost all of the
radiation should be in the bladder.
 The gamma camera takes readings every
few seconds for 20 minutes.
 The computer adds
up the
radioactivity in
each kidney and
the bladder.
 This can be shown
as a graph of
activity versus
time – a time-
activity curve.
 A more recent development is Positron Emission
Tomography (PET).
 A positron-emitting radionuclide is introduced,
usually by injection, and accumulates in the target
tissue. As it decays it emits a positron, which promptly
combines with a nearby electron resulting in the
simultaneous emission of two identifiable gamma rays
opposite directions which are detected by a PET
camera.
 PET's most important clinical role is in oncology, with
fluorine-18 as the tracer. It is also well used in cardiac
and brain imaging.
PET principle
showing
annihilation
reaction between
positron and
electron,
production of two
gamma rays and
detection in
coincidence
detection system.
• Several gamma-detector rings surround the patient.
• When one of these detects a photon, a detector opposite to
it, looks for a match.
• Time window for the search is few nano secs.
• If such a coincidence is detected, a line is drawn between
the detectors.
• When done, there will be areas of overlapping lines
indicating regions of radioactivity.
 18FDG is
probably the
most widely used
PET tracer.
 HIGH FDG pick-
up by tumors first
reported in 1980.
 Can also be used
to measure rate of
metabolism in the
brain.
 Diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals can be used to
examine blood flow to the brain, functioning of
the liver, lungs, heart or kidneys, to assess bone
growth, and to confirm other diagnostic
procedures. Another important use is to predict
the effects of surgery and assess changes since
treatment.

 Radioactive tracers are used in nuclear medicine

because the radiation it emits is easy to detect.
 http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/reprint/65/3/381.pdf
 http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2003/031
031gammacam.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_medicine
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_imaging
 http://www.medicimaging.com/files/Upgrading
%20Gamma%20camera.pdf
 http://pet.radiology.uiowa.edu/downloads/thomas
%20idstein%20papers/camera%20design
%20considerations/scintillation%20crystal%20desi.pdf
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fludeoxyglucose_(18F)