Resolution, sensitivity, and contrast in gamma-camera design: a critical review.

The performance of present-day gamma-cameras is examined from a historical perspective and the prospects for further improvements assessed. The author attempts to show quantitatively that spatial resolution of 25-cm field-of view cameras has reached a point where further advances can bring only diminishing returns clinically, unless improvements in sensitivity, or alternatively, in photon yield of the clinical procedure, are also realized. However, better image contrast due to developments in display technology and emission computed tomography may improve lesion detectability more directly than would an increase in resolution.