Advances in nuclear medical scanning techniques including the use of radiotracers employing antibodies, liposomes and other biochemical targeting agents are now becoming widely accepted as extremely effective approaches to imaging. However, their utility in the operating room during surgery has been severely limited by the absence of a convenient and sensitive hand held nuclear probe to assist in delineating the boundries of the design. Our research has clearly shown the feasibility of using a cadmium telluride solid state radiation detector as the basis of an extremely sensitive, miniaturized instrument for intra-operative tumor localization. The research program will address both the semiconductor detector and electronic aspects of the probe. In collaboration with the Queen's Hospital in England, the Wilshire Oncology Group in St. Vincent's Hospital, and the University of Rochester Medical Center, a fully self contained, all solid state nuclear surgical probe will have been developed which will be suitable for use with a very wide variety of tumor seeking agents.
