Comparison of portable CdTe(Cl) detectors with stationary NaI(Tl) detectors for subcutaneous 133Xe disappearance measurements.

133Xe washout measurements from locally injected depots in the subcutaneous tissue of the thigh have been performed intermittently by a NaI(Tl) detector placed 15 cm from the depot and a cadmium telluride [CdTe(Cl)] detector fixed to the skin surface above the depot. In 19 experiments, the measurements were performed during rest, before and after bicycling and during circulatory arrest during an occlusion cuff pressure of 240-250 mmHg. The disappearance rates measured by the two detector systems showed a linear correlation (r = 0.934, P less than 0.001). However, the rate constants measured by the CdTe(Cl) detector were an average of 1.48 times the values obtained by the NaI(Tl) detector during a period of 1-4 h after the injection. The coefficient of variation of the proportionality factor is 3.3%. Only the central part of the local depot area is exposed to the CdTe(Cl) detector. Using the NaI(Tl) detector and lead shielding of the peripheral or central part of the depot area, it was demonstrated that the disappearance rates obtained reflect the measuring geometries. The correction itself is therefore due to differences in the measuring geometries of the two detector types, and possibly to diffusion and convection of xenon. For quantitative determination of the subcutaneous blood flow, the disappearance rate constants determined by the CdTe(Cl) detector thus have to be corrected by division with the factor 1.48.