Small animal traversing gamma counter

A whole body traverser was developed that provides a variety of radionuclide detection configurations for retention and distribution studies. Data from biologically incorporated radionuclides were shown to be less susceptible to geometrical problems with this whole body traverser than with the usual forms of whole body counters. When used in its fully rotational mode, the effects of photon energy and attenuation due to various body tissues, thicknesses, and radionuclide locations were minimized. Consistent presentation of all aspects of the sample produced greater than 95% correlation with the predictable data and less than 2% counting fluctuations. The whole body traverser was utilized in radiolabeled microsphere tracer studies for the determination of regional blood flow and as a static counter for long term retention studies.