The Scintillation Camera with Pinhole Collimator in Thyroid Imaging

Abstract

Thyroid images of 100 patients were obtained using both a gamma camera with a pinhole collimator and a rectilinear scanner with an 8-inch crystal. The pinhole images were better in 64 patients, the scans better in 11, and they were equal in 25. The average quality of the pinhole images was higher than that of the scans. Pinhole studies obtained in 31 subjects without evidence of thyroid disease demonstrated considerable variation in size, shape, and nuclide distribution. The pinhole collimator may produce some distortion, but its superior resolution allows production of high-quality images.