Sentinel node in cancer diagnosis with surgical probes

A probe system has been designed for the accurate location of areas of incr eased radionuclide uptake. Different types of applications are possible, i. e. when the precise position or even identification of the radionuclide is needed, like in wound investigation. In this paper, we restrict ourselves t o a system incorporating two probes, for the identification of "hot" lymph nodes, close to the surface of the body. Axillary lymph node involvement is a major prognostic indicator and treatment planning factor in both melanom a and breast cancer. However, sentinel node localisation is relatively diff icult often due to close proximity of the primary tumour. The developed ins trument has a very sensitive detector, with good spatial resolution, able t o discriminate between primary and scattered radiation. In the first part o f the paper the instrument arrangement will be presented, including the two probes, CdTe/CZT and CsI(TI) coupled to a photodiode. In the second part r esults will be given, demonstrating the performance of the system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.