Dual imaging probe integrating gamma ray and ultrasound detection for medical diagnostics

The invention relates to an echoscintigraphic probe for medical applications and the related procedure for images fusion. It is based on an ultrasound probe integrated with a scintigraphic device or gamma camera. This prototype provides fused images revealing both anatomical and functional details. The ultrasound probe is housed on the top, above the collimator plane and hangs out to facilitate the contact with the patient body. The collimator is able to obtain images of the radiolabeled drug biodistribution, preserving the ultrasound probe characteristics. The probe is applicable to intra-operative clinical applications and to diagnosis of tumor pathologies by means of radioactive tracers.

To date modern diagnostic, interventional and clinical medicine need a technological improvement in the field of imaging that combines anatomical and functional information in the study of an organ. Since the scintigraphic images do not provide anatomical information, but only functional, to solve the problem SPECT and PET are normally combined with CT. Several attempts have been made to merge the SPECT/PET images with the anatomical information of ultrasound, but all carried out using complex methods that need separated imaging systems: a software system that combines the two images and an external optical tracking system (mainly invasive) to correlate spatial information coming from the two instruments. However, the complexity of use, the persistence of the dissociation of the methodical and the inaccurate overlapping have meant that the fusion attempts of  SPECT/PET images with the anatomical details of the ultrasounds have not yet been applied in clinical practice. To answer the need for an ultrasound instrument that integrates metabolic information, We intend to bring to market the first eco-scintigraphic  probe: a probe for ultrasound and scintigraphy imaging with merging of the images in real time, without the need for bulky and expensive additional tools for correlation. The images, superimposed in real-time, one-shot, provide different information: • anatomical details detected by ultrasound to help to identify lesions in high-definition • functional image, obtained from a gamma detector array, used to characterize the lesion and its metabolism with extreme precision, thanks to the millimetric spatial resolution. The combination of the two images will improve the diagnosis and metabolic characterization of many diseases.

• Oncological field, like in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Indeed, for this kind of lesions diagnostic and functional characterization is often not determined. The probe allows to overlap the functional and the anatomical image acquired near the organ viewing details of few millimeter and defining if the nodule is “hot” or “cold” after tracer administration. The images overlap allows to locate the nodules area and to characterize the colloidal nature or the thyroidal tissue nature for the possible following step of biopsy by needle aspiration;
• Imaging of moving organs as example in the context of interventional cardiology allowing to evaluate in real time the hemodynamic significance of a coronary stenosis.

• Ability to provide co-registered US/gamma images and the possibility to have a compact device.
• Allows to have two detectors timing compatible performing examinations in few seconds (nuclear medicine examinations typically require several minutes).
• Advances in computing can enable the development and implementation of new image reconstruction algorithms and data processing for clinical imaging with dual- modality systems.

The strong impact all over the world can be evaluated taking into account the number of patients subjected to diagnostic treatments (about 10 million people for year in Europe and 20 million in USA). Since this device can be used on all patients needing to perform diagnostic tests, the catchment area is about 30 million of people.