A combined scintimammography/stereotactic core biopsy digital X-ray system

Jefferson Lab, Hampton University and the Riverside Regional Medical Center are collaborating in a clinical study employing a dual modality imaging system utilizing scintimammography and digital radiography. The purpose of the study is to obtain clinical data on the reliability of scintimammography in predicting the malignancy of suspected breast lesions with the ultimate goal to reduce the number of false positives associated with conventional X-ray mammography. The scintimammography gamma camera is a custom built mini gamma camera with an active area of 5.3 cm/spl times/5.3 cm based on a 2/spl times/2 array of Hamamatsu R7600-C8 position sensitive photomultiplier tubes. The spatial resolution of the gamma camera at the collimator surface is <4 mm FWHM and the sensitivity is 4000 cps/mCi. Preliminary results are that of the six cases that indicated a lesion with high uptake of the MiraLuma (/sup 99m/Tc-sestamibi) five were positive for cancer. Out of a total of 25 patients in the study, all cases negative for MiraLuma uptake were confirmed negative via the biopsy pathology. The scintimammography results indicate that the lesions become visible with the mini gamma camera within 3 minutes post injection of MiraLuma.