No abstract

The THM growth technology for 100 mm diameter CdTe single crystals has been intensively developed. In consequence of the optimization of growth conditions, we have succeeded in controlling growth interface shape and growing 100 mm diameter CdTe single crystals with 300 mm in length. Concerning the behavior of Te inclusions in the grown crystal, their size and density were investigated by IR transmission microscopy. The size distribution of Te inclusions was divided into two groups, and the density of them was less than 1 10 5 cm 3 . Charge transport properties of the grown crystal were investigated by using the " -model" spectral fitting method, and were found to be quite uniform all over the wafer. To investigate the homogeneity of radiation detector performances, Ohmic type and Schottky type detectors with 4 mm 4 mm 1 mm were fabricated from the left half and the right half of the 100 mm diameter wafer, respectively. Standard deviations of their energy resolutions for the 122 keV line from 57 Co were less than 6%. This excellent uniformity is essential for the room temperature semiconductor detectors in the major application areas, such as medical imaging, non-destructive inspection and homeland security.

No abstract

Gamma probes have been used for sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma and breast cancer. However, these probes can provide only radioactivity counts and variable pitch audio output based on the intensity of the detected radioactivity. We have developed a small semiconductor gamma camera (SSGC) that allows visualisation of the size, shape and location of the target tissues. This study is designed to characterise the performance of the SSGC for radioguided surgery of metastatic lesions and for other imaging applications amenable to the smaller format of this prototype imaging system. The detector head had 32 cadmium telluride semiconductor arrays with a total of 1,024 pixels, and with application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and a tungsten collimator. The entire assembly was encased in a lead housing measuring 152 mmx166 mmx65 mm. The effective visual field was 44.8 mmx44.8 mm. The energy resolution and imaging aspects were tested. Two spherical 5-mm- and 15-mm-diameter technetium-99m radioactive sources that had activities of 0.15 MBq and 100 MBq, respectively, were used to simulate a sentinel lymph node and an injection site. The relative detectability of these foci by the new detector and a conventional scintillation camera was studied. The prototype was also examined in a variety of clinical applications. Energy resolution [full-width at half-maximum (FWHM)] for a single element at the centre of the field of view was 4.2% at 140 keV (99mTc), and the mean energy resolution of the CdTe detector arrays was approximately 7.8%. The spatial resolution, represented by FWHM, had a mean value of 1.56 +/- 0.05 mm. Simulated node foci could be visualised clearly by the SSGC using a 15-s acquisition time. In preliminary clinical tests, the SSGC successfully imaged diseases in a variety of tissues, including salivary and thyroid glands, temporomandibular joints and sentinel lymph nodes. The SSGC has significant potential for diagnosing diseases and facilitating subsequent radioguided surgery.

No abstract