MULTIPLE-VIEW SPECT BRAIN-IMAGING DETECTOR DEVELOPMENT

REGIONAL BRAIN BLOOD-FLOW MEASUREMENTS CAN PROVIDE ESSENTIALDATA FOR EFFECTIVE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES. A HINDRANCE TO ROUTINE USE OF THESE PROCEDURES HAS BEEN THE LACK OF GOOD HIGH-RESOLUTION SINGLE-PHOTON TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING SYSTEMS THAT CAN BE PURCHASED AT REASONABLE COST. USING NEW COST-EFFECTIVE DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY, THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A HIGH-RESOLUTION, HIGH-SENSITIVITY, SPECT BRAIN-IMAGING SYSTEM. EACH OF FOUR SEPARATE FIELDS OF VIEW WILL SIMULTANEOUSLY IMAGE THE ENTIRE BRAIN VOLUME, PRODUCING HIGH-RESOLUTION EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGES OF TC-99M AND I-123 LABELED BRAIN BLOOD-FLOW TRACERS. WITH A NEW INNOVATIVE SCINTILLATION DETECTOR DESIGN, THE SYSTEM IS COMPOSED OF READILY AVAILABLE COMPONENTS THAT ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AS THOSE USED IN CURRENT CONVENTIONAL DESIGN FLAT GAMMA CAMERAS. THE SYSTEM WILL BE FOUR TIMES ASSENSITIVE AS A SINGLE-HEAD ROTATING GAMMA CAMERA AND CAN EASILY SWITCH BETWEEN HIGH-RESOLUTION AND HIGH-SENSITIVITY MODES OF OPERATION. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO EXPERIMENTALLY DEVELOP OPTIMAL COMPONENT CONFIGURATIONS FOR THE NEW DETECTOR DESIGN AND ASSEMBLE A DETECTOR THAT WILL BETHE BASIS FOR CONSTRUCTING A COMPLETE IMAGING SYSTEM IN PHASE II.