Nuclear Medicine imaging has been widely used to preoperatively image structures of interest for excisional biopsy. Radio-guided intraoperative procedures utilizing radiotracers have facilitated a cost-effective highly specific means to locate suspect tissue and access it for pathologic analysis. The result of radio-guided surgery is increased tissue specificity obtained for biopsy, minimally accessed incisions, and the reduction of inpatient hospital utilization with an improved patient recovery. Uptake of radiopharmaceuticals is higher in tumors compared to healthy tissue, allowing intraoperative probes to locate tumors based on the increased activity from the site. At present, the most common probes are designed for use with gamma emiting radiopharmaceuticals, although combined beta-gamma radiation arising from other parts of the body limit the practical use of these probes by severely degrading the signal to noise ratio. We propose to address these limitations by designing a next-generation intraoperative probe intended to rapidly localize tumors by detecting the long-range gamma rays, and then image the tumor bed with the short-range beta rays. This novel design will provide a rapid, high resolution digital image of the interrogated area, fulfilling the need for clear delineation of tumors during radio-guided surgical procedures.
The advancements in radiopharmaceuticals has dramatically escalated the used of intraoperative probes in surgery. The proposed research will provide a new class of digital imaging probes, which will exploit these advancements. The estimated market size for the probes is in hundreds of millions of dollars. The unique capability of the proposed probe is expected to have a significant impact of this market.
