New Camera Sees Inside Human Body for Enhanced Scanning and Diagnosis

Nuclear medicine scans like single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) allow doctors to observe heart function, track blood flow, and detect hidden diseases. However, current detectors are either extremely expensive and fragile, like cadmium zinc telluride, or bulky and blurry, like sodium iodide. These limitations drive up costs and reduce image quality, leaving many hospitals without access to the best tools. Now, a new type of detector addresses these challenges, demonstrating the potential to lower the cost and increase the quality of nuclear medicine.

Researchers at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL, USA), in collaboration with Soochow University (Suzhou, China), have created the first perovskite-based detector capable of capturing individual gamma rays with record precision. Perovskites, previously known for revolutionizing solar energy, were engineered into high-quality single crystals and arranged into pixelated sensors, similar to smartphone camera pixels. The resulting device integrates crystal growth, surface engineering, and optimized readout electronics to enhance performance.

The detector achieved record energy resolution, distinguishing among gamma rays of different energies and capturing extremely faint signals from the medical radiotracer technetium-99m. It produced crisp images capable of separating radioactive sources only millimeters apart, while remaining stable and efficient. The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrated that perovskite-based detectors outperform traditional materials in both sensitivity and clarity, reducing signal loss and distortion.

For patients, the technology could mean shorter scans, clearer images, and lower radiation doses. Because perovskites are easier and cheaper to grow than conventional materials, hospitals and clinics may gain wider access to high-quality imaging. The device is being commercialized to scale up production and integrate the detectors into next-generation nuclear medicine systems. Researchers also foresee exploring new directions in medical imaging.

"By combining high-quality perovskite crystals with a carefully optimized pixelated detector and multi-channel readout system, we were able to achieve record-breaking energy resolution and imaging capabilities,” said Northwestern’s Mercouri Kanatzidis, the study’s senior author. “This work shows the real potential of perovskite-based detectors to transform nuclear medicine imaging."

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Northwestern University
Soochow University