Heavy Ion Medical Center, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan. Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
Phys Med Biol. 2020 Feb 28;65(5):05LT01. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ab33d8.
The Compton camera can simultaneously acquire images of multiple isotopes injected in a body; therefore, it has the potential to introduce a new subfield in the field of biomedical imaging applications. The objective of this study is to assess the ability of a prototype semiconductor-based silicon/cadmium telluride (Si/CdTe) Compton camera to simultaneously image the distributions of technetium (Tc)-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) (141 keV emission) and F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) (511 keV emission) injected into a human volunteer. Tc-DMSA and F-FDG were injected intravenously into a 25-year-old male volunteer. The distributions of Tc-DMSA and F-FDG were simultaneously made visible by setting a specified energy window for each radioisotope. The images of these radiopharmaceuticals acquired using the prototype Compton camera were superimposed onto computed tomography images for reference. The reconstructed image showed that Tc-DMSA had accumulated in both kidneys, which is consistent with the well-known diagnostic distribution determined by clinical imaging via single-photon emission computed tomography. In the F-FDG image, there is broad distribution around the liver and kidneys, which was expected based on routine clinical positron emission tomography imaging. The current study demonstrated for the first time that the Si/CdTe Compton camera was capable of simultaneously imaging the distributions of two radiopharmaceuticals, Tc-DMSA and F-FDG, in a human body. These results suggest that the Si/CdTe Compton camera has the potential to become a novel modality for nuclear medical diagnoses enabling multi-probe simultaneous tracking.
康普顿相机可以同时获取注入体内的多种同位素的图像；因此，它有可能在生物医学成像应用领域引入一个新的子领域。本研究的目的是评估基于半导体的硅/碲化镉 (Si/CdTe) 康普顿相机原型同时对静脉注射入人体志愿者的锝-二巯丁二酸 (Tc-DMSA)（141keV 发射）和 F-氟代脱氧葡萄糖 (FDG)（511keV 发射）的分布进行成像的能力。Tc-DMSA 和 F-FDG 被静脉注射入一名 25 岁的男性志愿者体内。通过为每种放射性同位素设置特定的能量窗口，使 Tc-DMSA 和 F-FDG 的分布同时可见。使用原型康普顿相机获取的这些放射性药物的图像被叠加到计算机断层扫描图像上以供参考。重建图像显示 Tc-DMSA 积聚在两个肾脏中，这与通过单光子发射计算机断层扫描确定的众所周知的诊断分布一致。在 F-FDG 图像中，肝脏和肾脏周围有广泛的分布，这是基于常规临床正电子发射断层扫描成像的预期结果。本研究首次证明 Si/CdTe 康普顿相机能够同时对人体内两种放射性药物 Tc-DMSA 和 F-FDG 的分布进行成像。这些结果表明，Si/CdTe 康普顿相机有可能成为一种新的核医学诊断方式，实现多探针同时跟踪。
