A comparison of a new whole body scanner with a large crystal scanning camera in whole body imaging

Physical parameters and the clinical experience obtained in one year with a new whole body scanning system are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of this system are described in comparison with a large crystal scanning camera. The whole body scanner has two detectors each an array of ten crystals with a large area (700 cm2 per head) able to scan a surface of 60 X 193 cm. The information is formed in a 160 by 512 point matrix and stored on a floppy disc. X-ray or polaroid film output is available. Whole body bone scans (both A.P. and P.A.) with excellent resolution are obtained in less than 25 min. The relative sensitivity and resolution of both imaging systems was studied using line and plane source phantoms and clinical material. Taking into account the different physical parameters of the systems an attempt at a practical comparison of scans is made in terms of time, sensitivity, resolution and image quality.