Characterization and optimization of a β detector for ¹⁸F radio-guided surgery

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine
• Medical physics
• Surgical oncology

Background:

• Radio-Guided Surgery (RGS) uses radiopharmaceuticals for intraoperative tumor detection.
• Traditional RGS relies on gamma emission, facing limitations.
• Beta-minus (β⁻) emitting radiotracers offer an alternative approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel particle detector's performance with beta-plus (β⁺) emitting sources, specifically fluorine-18 (¹⁸F).
• To assess the detector's suitability for enhancing radio-guided surgery.
• To validate Monte Carlo simulations for predicting detector performance.

Main Methods:

• Development of a particle detector with high efficiency for β⁻ particles and photon transparency.
• Estimation of detector performance using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations.
• Laboratory measurements using ¹⁸F liquid sources simulating tumor residuals and background radiation.

Main Results:

• Experimental results align well with MC simulation predictions for ¹⁸F sources.
• The detector demonstrates expected performance with ¹⁸F, a common positron emitter.
• The developed MC simulation accurately predicts gamma background from diffuse annihilation photons.

Conclusions:

• The novel particle detector shows significant potential for use with β⁺ emitting radiotracers in nuclear medicine.
• This technology could improve the precision and completeness of tumor resections in radio-guided surgery.
• Validated MC simulations are valuable tools for optimizing detector design and predicting performance in clinical settings.