A miniature silicon diode matrix detector for in vivo measurement of 133Xe disappearance following local tissue injection

A semiconductor silicon PIN diode matrix detector for measurement of 133Xe washout in small regional skin areas

Local variations in microvascularization are expected in lesions and lesion-free skin of patients with pressure sores. To investigate these variations, methods for studies of the regional blood flow rate within small skin areas are needed. Regional blood flow can be estimated by measuring the washout of 133Xe from the tissue. This study describes a 2 x 12 Si PIN diode matrix detector capable of 133Xe detection, and equipped with a collimator to improve the spatial resolution. Thus the regional blood flow in subcutaneous skin areas down to about 2 cm2 can be investigated when the atraumatic epicutaneous labelling technique is used. The capability of the matrix detector and its collimator is described by laboratory investigations. In pilot investigations three normal subjects and three paraplegics with pressure sores were studied. In each individual study the detector matrix was divided into six square areas containing four diode detectors each. Thus six 133Xe disappearance rate constants from adjacent subcutaneous tissue could be determined simultaneously.

Miniature silicon diode matrix-detector for in vivo measurement of 133xenon disappearance in the canine myocardium following local tissue injection

After local tissue depositioning of 133Xenon (133Xe) the regional washout is usually registered by a NaI(Tl) detector. The residual radioactivity of 133Xe is usually measured at its 81 keV photopeak. However, using small Silicon (Si) photodiodes it is feasible to measure only the low-energy activity in the X-ray energy range. In the myocardium of open chest dogs 133Xe washout measurements by a matrix of Si diodes composed in a 4 x 4 array and a conventional NaI(Tl) detector were carried out simultaneously. Fourteen separate pairs of measurements were performed in 3 dogs. When the Si-diodes in the matrix were selected individually in accordance to the position with reference to the diode with maximum count rate or pooled, comparisons could be made between the corresponding washout rate constants measured by the reference detector. In the correlation between the rate constants the intercepts with the y axis were not significantly different from zero allowing the correlation lines to be fitted through (0.0). The slope of the correlation line was close to unity. The registration of the low-X-ray energy of 133Xe by the Si-detectors is an alternative to the conventional high energy activity recording appearing from the gamma-energy of the photopeak. The detector matrix concept allows elimination of motion artefacts and indicator distribution in the myocardial tissue. Due to the uniformity and low cost of Si-diodes the perspective may be the introduction as a disposable transducer useful during cardiac surgery for example.