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AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsJohn C. Mazziotta, Farhad Daghighian, Edward J. Hoffman
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An intraoperative radiation probe is devised to detect radiolabelled malignant tissues by being selectively sensitive to beta radiation while insensitive to gamma radiation. The probe is comprised of two plastic scintillators optically coupled to corresponding photomultiplier tubes via corresponding light pipes. One of the plastic scintillators is shielded against beta radiation while the other is left to detect both beta and gamma radiation. The gamma radiation sensitivity of the dual probes is empirically established and used as a weighted factor to subtract the outputs of the two probes to leave a signal indicative of the beta radiation emitted by the radiolabelled tissue. Because of the shorter range of beta radiation within tissue, only near radiolabelled tissue is detected by the probe while strongly radiolabelled, more distant tissues exposing the probe to gamma radiation are ignored. The reliably identified near radiolabelled tissues can then be surgically removed. The probe is usable in any application where local beta radiation is to be differentiated from other types and sources of radiation.
A probe system for preferentially detecting beta radiation over background gamma radiation from a source of beta and gamma radiation comprising:
A dual probe system for preferentially detecting beta radiation emitted by radiopharmaceutically marked tissue marked with isotopes emitting beta and gamma radiation in intraoperative surgery comprising:
A method for intraoperatively identifying the location of small masses of radioactively tagged tissues comprising the steps of:
An improvement in a method for intraoperatively locating small masses of radioactively tagged tissues in the presence of radioactively tagged distant tissue masses each tagged with a radioactive isotope comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.