Dilon submits 510(k) for gamma camera

Nuclear medicine newcomer Dilon Technologies of Newport News, VA, announced last month that it had submitted a 510(k) application to the Food and Drug Administration for Dilon 2000, a gamma camera that will be Dilon's first commercial product. The camera carries a 6 x 8-inch field-of-view and is intended for such high-resolution applications as scintimammography and thyroid and prostate imaging.

Like most conventional digital gamma cameras, Dilon 2000 uses scintillation crystals and photomultiplier tubes, with analog-to-digital converters handling digitization tasks. But the company claims its product differs in that its 48 PMTs carry eight outputs rather than the one found in conventional digital systems. The increased number of outputs allows Dilon 2000 to measure more accurately where gamma rays hit the PMT, according to Lee Fairchild, director of product marketing.

More outputs in each tube also allow the unit to make better use of its detectors: Whereas typical digital gamma camera detectors have a 2.5 to 3-inch border of unusable space around their edges, Dilon 2000 detectors have only a 0.5-inch border, Fairchild said.

The privately held company has licensed the technology used in Dilon 2000 from the Southeastern Universities Research Association and the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Dilon Technologies expects FDA clearance for Dilon 2000 early this year, according to Fairchild, and plans to set the list price for the unit at $130,000.