Radioactive-emission-measurement optimization to specific body structures

• US 20070156047A1
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Published: 07/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spectrum Dynamics Medical Ltd
• Original Assignee: Spectrum Dynamics LLC
• Inventors: Rousso, Benny, Ben-Haim, Shlomo, Nagler, Michael, Zilberstein, Yoel, Ravhon, Ran, Ziv, Omer, Dichterman, Eli
• Granted Patent: US 8,094,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/436
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/00 Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis; Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis combined with radiation therapy equipment instruments measuring radiation intensity for application in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting, G01T1/161; apparatus for taking X-ray photographs G03B42/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/02 Arrangements for diagnosis sequentially in different planes; Stereoscopic radiation diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/06 Diaphragms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4258 for detecting non x-ray radiation, e.g. gamma radiation A61B6/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4266 characterised by using a plurality of detector units A61B6/4014 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/54 Control of apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: G01T 1/1642 using a scintillation crystal and position sensing photodetector arrays, e.g. ANGER cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01T 1/1644 using an array of optically separate scintillation elements permitting direct location of scintillations G01T1/1645 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10072 Tomographic images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection

Abstract

Systems, methods, and probes are provided for functional imaging by radioactive-emission-measurements, specific to body structures, such as the prostate, the esophagus, the cervix, the uterus, the ovaries, the heart, the breast, the brain, and the whole body, and other body structures. The nuclear imaging may be performed alone, or together with structural imaging, for example, by x-rays, ultrasound, or MRI. Preferably, the radioactive-emission-measuring probes include detectors, which are adapted for individual motions with respect to the probe housings, to generate views from different orientations and to change their view orientations. These motions are optimized with respect to functional information gained about the body structure, by identifying preferred sets of views for measurements, based on models of the body structures and information theoretic measures. A second iteration, for identifying preferred sets of views for measurements of a portion of a body structure, based on models of a location of a pathology that has been identified, makes it possible, in effect, to zoom in on a suspected pathology. The systems are preprogrammed to provide these motions automatically.

Claims

1. A method for predefining a set of radioactive-emission measurement views, for radioactive-emission imaging after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the method being tailored to a specific body structure and optimized with respect to the information gained about the body structure, the method comprising:

modeling the body-structure, based on its geometry;

modeling the anatomical constraints, which limit accessibility to the body structure;

obtaining a collection of views of the modeled body-structure, within the modeled anatomical constraints;

providing a scoring function, by which any set of at least one view, from the collection of views, is scorable with a score that rates the information obtained from the modeled body structure, by the set;

forming sets of views from the collection of views and scoring them, with the scoring function; and

selecting one of the sets of views, from the collection of views, based on its score, as the predefined set of views.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the body structure is selected from the group consisting of:

a human prostate, a human heart, a human brain, a human breast, a human uterus, a human ovary, a human liver, a human kidney, a human stomach, a human colon, a human small intestine, a human oral cavity, a human throat, a human gland, a human lymph node, a human trachee, a human lung, a human pancreas, a human skin, another human body organ, a human limb, a human bone, another part of the human body, a whole human body,

an animal prostate, an animal heart, an animal brain, an animal teat, an animal uterus, an animal ovary, an animal liver, an animal kidney, an animal stomach, an animal gastrointestinal track, an animal oral cavity, an animal throat, an animal gland, an animal lymph node, an animal trachee, an animal lung, an animal pancreas, an animal skin, another animal body organ, an animal limb, an animal bone, another part of an animal body, and a whole animal body.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a collection of views of the modeled body-structure, within the modeled anatomical constraints, comprises obtaining the group of probabilities which form each view, by measurements of a physical model of the body structure, embedded with an emission source, from different locations and orientations, as possible by the modeled anatomical constraints.

4. The method of claim 3, and further including performing diagnostic radioactive-emission measurements of an in-vivo body structure that corresponds to the modeled body structure, selectively at the predefined set of views.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the scoring function is based on an information theoretic measure of uniformity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the modeling the body-structure includes modeling a radiation emission density distribution to form at least one region of interest.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the scoring function comprises an information theoretic measure, selected from the group consisting of:

an information-theoretic Fisher information measure, for ensuring reliable reconstruction of the radioactive-emission density distribution,

an information-theoretic likelihood measure, for ensuring separable reconstructions of the at least one emittance model, and

a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the modeling the body-structure comprises providing a plurality of models of substantially identical volumes, but different regions of interest.

the forming sets of views from the collection of views and scoring them, comprises forming substantially identical sets of views for all the models and scoring the sets with respect to each model, based on the information theoretic measure of reliability; and

the selecting one of the sets of views, based on its score, comprises selecting based on the average score for the plurality of models.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the modeling the body-structure comprises providing a pair of models of substantially identical volumes, but different regions of interest, wherein the difference between the regions of interest is defined by at least one delta;

the scoring function is based on an information theoretic measure of separability;

the forming the sets of views from the collection of views and scoring them, comprises forming substantially identical sets of views for the pair of models and scoring the sets with respect to the pair; and

the selecting one of the sets of views, based on its score, comprises selecting based on the score for the pair.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the modeling the body-structure comprises providing a plurality of pairs of models of substantially identical volumes, but different regions of interest, wherein the difference between the regions of interest for each pair is defined by at least one delta;

the scoring function is based on an information theoretic measure of separability;

the forming the sets of views from the collection of views and scoring them, comprises forming substantially identical sets of views for the plurality of pairs of models and scoring the sets with respect to each of the pairs; and

the selecting one of the sets of views, based on its score, comprises selecting based on an average score for the plurality of pairs.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the modeling the body-structure comprises providing a pair of models of substantially identical volumes, but different regions of interest, and a third model of no radiation emission density distribution; and

the providing the scoring function comprises providing a scoring function as a combination of uniformity, separability and reliability.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming sets of views from the collection of views and scoring them, with the scoring function, includes using the Greedy construction.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the views is associated with a detecting unit, formed as a collimated solid-state-detector pixel.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the views is associated with at least two viewing parameters, selected from the group consisting of:

a solid-state-detector-pixel location, a solid-state-detector-pixel orientation, a solid-state-detector-pixel material, a solid-state-detector-pixel thickness, a solid-state-detector-pixel size, a septa thickness, a collimator solid collection angle, measurement duration, time elapsed from the administration of the radiopharmaceutical, the radiopharmaceutical half life, radioactive-emission particle, and radioactive-emission energy.

15. A method of zooming in on a location of suspected pathology within a body structure, during diagnostic radioactive-emission measurements, in vivo, comprising:

modeling the body-structure, based on its geometry;

modeling anatomical constraints, which limit accessibility to the body structure;

obtaining a first collection of views of the modeled body-structure, within the modeled anatomical constraints;

providing a first scoring function, by which any set of at least one view, from any collection of views is scorable with a score that rates information obtained from the modeled body structure by the set;

forming sets of views from the first collection of views and scoring them, with the first scoring function;

selecting one of the sets of views from the first collection of views, based on its score, as the predefined set of views;

performing diagnostic radioactive-emission measurements of an in-vivo body structure that corresponds to the body structure that has been modeled, selectively at the predefined set of views;

identifying the location of suspected pathology;

modeling the suspected pathology within the modeled body-structure;

modeling anatomical constraints, which limit accessibility to the suspected pathology within the body-structure;

obtaining a second collection of views of the modeled suspected pathology within the modeled body-structure and the modeled anatomical constraints;

providing a second scoring function;

forming sets of views from the second collection of views and scoring them, with the second scoring function;

selecting one of the sets of views from the second collection of views, based on its score, as a predefined pathology set of views; and

performing diagnostic radioactive-emission measurements of the in-vivo pathology, selectively at the predefined pathology set of views.

16. A method for identifying a radioactive-emission probe design optimized with respect to information gained about a body structure, comprising:

modeling a body-structure, based on its geometry;

modeling anatomical constraints, which limit accessibility to the body structure;

obtaining representative collections of views of the modeled body-structure, within the modeled anatomical constraints, for different probe designs;

providing a scoring function, by which each representative collection of views, associated with a specific probe design, is scorable with a score that rates information, obtained from the body-structure;

scoring the representative collections of views of the different probe designs; and

selecting a probe design, based on the score of its representative collection of views.

17. A radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system, for tomographic imaging of a body structure, after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system comprising:

a housing, contoured so as to follow the anatomical constraints of the body, for optimized tomographic imaging of the body structure, the housing remaining stationary during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

at least one detector assembly system, mounted within the housing and configured for an assembly rotational motion in a first direction, around an assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the detector assembly system comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly system.

18. The radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 17, wherein the assembly rotational motion is an oscillatory rotational motion, so as to result it a sweeping motion.

19. The radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 17, and further including a plurality of detector assembly systems, arranged along the housing contour, each of the detector assembly systems being configured for an assembly rotational motion around a different assembly axis of rotation.

20. The radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 17, wherein the a plurality of detecting units are configured for detecting-unit sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the detecting-units'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assembly axis of rotation,

and further including an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the detecting units within the internal housing, for providing the detecting units with the detecting unit sweeping motion in the second direction.

21. The radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of detecting units are arranged in arrays, to form rigid blocks, and the blocks are configured for block sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the blocks'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assembly'"'"'s axis of rotation,

and further including an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the blocks within the internal housing, for providing the blocks with the block sweeping motion in the second direction.

22. The radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 17, and further including an assembly third motion provider, in mechanical communicating with the internal housing, for providing assembly lateral motion, during data acquisition for the tomographic image.

23. The radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 22, wherein the assembly lateral motion is an oscillatory lateral motion.

24. A method for predefining a set of radioactive-emission measurement views, for radioactive-emission imaging after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the method being tailored to a body structure and optimized with respect to the information gained about the body structure, the method comprising:

modeling the body-structure, based on its geometry;

modeling the anatomical constraints, which limit accessibility to the body structure;

obtaining a collection of views of the modeled body-structure, within the modeled anatomical constraints;

providing a scoring function, by which any set of at least one view, from the collection of views, is scorable with a score that rates the information obtained from the modeled body structure, by the set;

forming sets of views from the collection of views and scoring them, with the scoring function;

selecting one of the sets of views, from the collection of views, based on its score, as the predefined set of views;

employing a radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system, for tomographic imaging of the body structure, comprising;

a housing, contoured so as to follow the anatomical constraints of the body, for optimized tomographic imaging of the body structure, the housing remaining stationary during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

at least one detector assembly system, mounted within the housing and configured for an assembly rotational motion in a first direction, around an assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the detector assembly system comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly system; and

performing diagnostic radioactive-emission measurements of the body structure, selectively at the predefined set of views.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the body structure is selected from the group consisting of:

a human prostate, a human heart, a human brain, a human breast, a human uterus, a human ovary, a human liver, a human kidney, a human stomach, a human colon, a human small intestine, a human oral cavity, a human throat, a human gland, a human lymph node, a human skin, another human body organ, a human limb, a human bone, another part of the human body, a whole human body,

an animal prostate, an animal heart, an animal brain, an animal teat, an animal uterus, an animal ovary, an animal liver, an animal kidney, an animal stomach, an animal gastrointestinal track, an animal oral cavity, an animal throat, an animal gland, an animal lymph node, an animal skin, another animal body organ, an animal limb, an animal bone, another part of an animal body, and a whole animal body.

26. A cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system, for tomographic imaging of a heart, after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system comprising:

a housing, contoured so as to follow the anatomical constraints of the body, for optimized tomographic imaging of the heart, the housing remaining stationary during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

a plurality of detector assembly systems, arranged along the housing contour, each configured for an assembly rotational motion, around a different assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, each of the detector assembly systems comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the respective detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly systems.

27. The cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 26, wherein the assembly rotational motion is an oscillatory rotational motion, so as to result it a sweeping motion.

28. The cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 26, wherein:

the plurality of detecting units are arranged in arrays, to form rigid blocks, and the blocks are configured for block sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the blocks'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assemblies'"'"' axes of rotation; and

each of the detector assembly systems further includes an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the blocks within the internal housing, for providing the blocks with the block sweeping motion in the second direction.

29. The cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 26, and further including an assembly third motion provider, in mechanical communicating with the internal housing, for providing assembly lateral motion, during data acquisition for the tomographic image.

30. The cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 29, wherein the assembly lateral motion is an oscillatory lateral motion.

31. A brain radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system, for tomographic imaging of a brain, after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the brain radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system comprising:

a housing, formed as a helmet, so as to follow the anatomical constraints of the head, for optimized tomographic imaging of the brain, the housing remaining stationary during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

a plurality of detector assembly systems, arranged within the helmet, each configured for an assembly rotational motion, around a different assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, each of the detector assembly systems comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the respective detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly systems.

32. The brain radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 31, wherein the assembly rotational motion is an oscillatory rotational motion, so as to result it a sweeping motion.

33. The brain radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 31, wherein:

the plurality of detecting units are arranged in arrays, to form rigid blocks, and the blocks are configured for block sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the blocks'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assemblies'"'"' axes of rotation; and

each of the detector assembly systems further includes an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the blocks within the internal housing, for providing the blocks with the block sweeping motion in the second direction.

34. The brain radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 31, and further including an assembly third motion provider, in mechanical communicating with the internal housing, for providing assembly lateral motion, during data acquisition for the tomographic image.

35. The cardiac radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 34, wherein the assembly lateral motion is an oscillatory lateral motion.

36. A dual imaging system, for tomographic imaging of a body structure, after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the dual imaging system comprising:

a housing, contoured so as to follow the anatomical constraints of the body, for optimized tomographic imaging of the body structure, the housing remaining stationary during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

a plurality of detector assembly systems, arranged along the housing contour, each configured for an assembly rotational motion, around a different assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, each of the detector assembly systems comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the respective detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion;

a three-dimensional structural imager; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly systems.

37. The dual imaging system of claim 36, wherein the assembly rotational motion is an oscillatory rotational motion, so as to result it a sweeping motion.

38. The dual imaging system of claim 36, wherein:

the plurality of detecting units are arranged in arrays, to form rigid blocks, and the blocks are configured for block sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the blocks'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assemblies'"'"' axes of rotation; and

each of the detector assembly systems further includes an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the blocks within the internal housing, for providing the blocks with the block sweeping motion in the second direction.

39. The dual imaging system of claim 36, and further including an assembly third motion provider, in mechanical communicating with the internal housing, for providing assembly lateral motion, during data acquisition for the tomographic image.

40. The dual imaging system of claim 39, wherein the assembly lateral motion is an oscillatory lateral motion.

41. The dual imaging system of claim 36, wherein the three-dimensional structural imager is selected from the group consisting of an x-ray CT, an MRI, a three-dimensional ultrasound, and a combination thereof.

42. An intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system, shaped for insertion to a body lumen, for tomographic imaging of a body structure from the body lumen, after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system comprising:

a housing, contoured so as to follow the anatomical constraints of the body lumen, for optimized tomographic imaging of the body structure from the body lumen, the housing remaining stationary during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

a detector assembly system, mounted within the housing and configured for an assembly rotational motion in a first direction, around an assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the detector assembly system comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly system.

43. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, wherein the assembly rotational motion is an oscillatory rotational motion, so as to result it a sweeping motion.

44. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, wherein

the plurality of detecting units are arranged in arrays, to form rigid blocks, and the blocks are configured for block sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the blocks'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assembly'"'"'s axis of rotation,

and further including an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the blocks within the internal housing, for providing the blocks with the block sweeping motion in the second direction.

45. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, and further including an assembly third motion provider, in mechanical communicating with the internal housing, for providing assembly lateral motion, during data acquisition for the tomographic image.

46. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 45, wherein the assembly lateral motion is an oscillatory lateral motion.

47. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, configured for insertion to a body lumen selected from the group consisting of an esophagus, a colon and a vagina.

48. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, configured for tomographic imaging of a body structure selected from the group consisting of a heart, a stomach, a prostate, a colon, a vagina, a cervix, a uterus, a trachee, a lung, a liver, and a pancreas.

49. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, and further including an ultrasound imager, co-registered to the intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system.

50. The intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 42, and further including a surgical instrument, co-registered to the intracorporeal radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system.

51. A breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system, for tomographic imaging of a breast, after an administration of a radiopharmaceutical, the breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system comprising:

a housing, having a support plate and a compression plate, for pressing a breast and holding it fixed therebetween, the housing remaining stationary, during data acquisition for a tomographic image;

at least one detector assembly system, mounted on at least one of the support plate and the compression plate, the detector assembly system being configured for an assembly rotational motion in a first direction, around an assembly axis of rotation, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the detector assembly system comprising;

an internal housing;

a plurality of collimated solid-state detecting units, arranged within the internal housing, each of the detecting units defining a solid-state detector pixel and a solid collection angle; and

an assembly first motion provider, in mechanical communication with the internal housing, configured for providing the detector assembly system with the assembly rotational motion; and

a controller, configured for controlling any motion associated with the detector assembly system.

52. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, wherein the assembly rotational motion is an oscillatory rotational motion, so as to result it a sweeping motion.

53. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, and further including a plurality of detector assembly systems, arranged on at least one of the support plate and the compression plate, each of the detector assembly systems being configured for an assembly rotational motion around a different assembly axis of rotation.

54. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, and further including a plurality of detector assembly systems, arranged on both the support plate and the compression plate, each of the detector assembly systems being configured for an assembly rotational motion around a different assembly axis of rotation.

55. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, wherein the plurality of detecting units are arranged in arrays, to form rigid blocks, and the blocks are configured for block sweeping motions in a second direction, during data acquisition for the tomographic image, the blocks'"'"' axes of rotation being orthogonal to the assembly'"'"'s axis of rotation,

and further including an assembly second motion provider, in mechanical communication with each of the blocks within the internal housing, for providing the blocks with the block sweeping motion in the second direction.

56. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, and further including an assembly third motion provider, in mechanical communicating with the internal housing, for providing assembly lateral motion, during data acquisition for the tomographic image.

57. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 56, wherein the assembly lateral motion is an oscillatory lateral motion.

58. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, and further including an ultrasound imager, co-registered to the breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system.

59. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, and further including an x-ray imager, co-registered to the breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system.

60. The breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe system of claim 51, and further including a surgical instrument, co-registered to the breast radioactive-emission-measuring-probe.