Single photon imaging. New instrumentation and techniques

The performance of Anger scintillation cameras continues to be enhanced through a series of small improvements which result in significantly better imaging characteristics. The most recent changes in camera design consist of: (1) the introduction of photomultipliers with better photocathode and electron collection efficiencies, (2) the use of thinner (3/8 or 1/4 in) crystals giving slightly better intrinsic resolution for low gamma-ray energies, (3) inclusion of a spatially varying energy window to compensate for variations of light collection efficiency, (4) event-by-event, real-time distortion removal for uniformity correction, and (5) introduction of new methods to improve the count-rate capability. Whereas some of these improvements are due to better understanding of the fundamentals of camera design, others are the result of technological advances in electronic components such as analogue-to-digital converters, microprocessors and high-density digital memories. The development of single photon tomography has developed along two parallel paths. Multipinhole and rotating slant-hole collimator attachments provide some degree of longitudinal tomography, and are currently being applied to cardiac imaging. At the same time rotating camera systems capable of transverse as well as longitudinal imaging are being refined technically and evaluated clinically. Longitudinal tomography is of limited use in quantitative studies and is likely to be an interim solution to three-dimensional imaging. Rotating camera systems, on the other hand, not only provide equal resolution in all three dimensions but are also capable of providing quantitative accuracy. This is the result of progress in attenuation correction and the design of special collimators. Single photon tomography provides a small but noticeable improvement in diagnostic accuracy which is likely to result in widespread use of rotating camera systems in the future