A novel imaging beta probe for radio-guided surgery

Gamma-sensitive intraoperative probes are routinely used in the assessment of conditions that include the spread of breast cancer into the lymphatic system, by detecting radiation emitted by radiopharmaceuticals such as
¹⁸
F-FDG,
^99m
Tc,
¹³¹
I,
¹¹¹
In and
¹²⁵
I. However, a major drawback of existing gamma probes is their inability to distinguish between radiation emitted by tissue directly in front of them and background emissions from surrounding areas, seriously degrading the user’s ability to localize the source of emitted radiation.