Abstract
A pressurized xenon wire chamber camera has been developed for applications in nuclear medicine. The device employs a high speed delay-line readout and digital processing system providing a peak count rate of 850 000 cps, spatial resolution of 2.5 mm and highly uniform imaging characteristics. A short-lived generator produced radionuclide, 178Ta, having an emission energy of 55-65 keV has also been developed. It provides greatly reduced radiation dosimetry compared with any commercial isotope in current use and is imaged very effectively with the wire chamber camera. Performance of this camera and isotope for first-pass radionuclide assessment of cardiac function compares favorably with the accepted standard of this technique, the multicrystal gamma camera and 99mTc. Currently ongoing studies in exercise cardiac assessment, bedside imaging in myocardial infarction patients and pediatric cardiac imaging, point the way to unique applications of this technology in cardiology. © 1988.