Choosing a gamma camera for your department.

Choose a gamma camera around the studies your department reports, the patients it sees and the room available. A compact small-field planar camera, a general-purpose SPECT system and a dedicated cardiac system answer different imaging requirements, but their applications can overlap. Use your clinical protocols, field-of-view needs, acquisition workload and physics team's acceptance criteria to build the shortlist.

What actually drives the decision

• Which studies you actually report: List thyroid, renal, bone, cardiac and other studies with their required planar, SPECT or hybrid acquisitions. For renal work, confirm that the detector field and positioning cover the required anatomy across your patient range. Use actual or planned annual study volumes.
• Patient throughput: Compare acquisition times for the same clinical task, activity, image-quality requirement and patient range. Detector geometry can improve acquisition efficiency, but preparation, uptake periods, positioning and reporting also determine department throughput.
• Whether you need CT with it: Distinguish CT-based attenuation correction, anatomical localisation and diagnostic CT. Attenuation correction is not exclusively CT-based. A separate CT workflow requires supported import, registration, reconstruction and quality-control procedures; having a CT scanner elsewhere does not establish compatibility. Review the intended workflow with the manufacturer and clinical physics team.
• Room, floor loading and shielding: Compact cameras fit rooms that cannot take a ring gantry. This is often the constraint that decides the shortlist in an existing hospital building, so measure before specifying.
• How the department expects to grow: If a future service depends on an upgrade, request the supported model, software, hardware changes and site implications in writing. Compare its quoted scope and cost with buying the required configuration initially.
• Licensing and physics support: Identify the applicable BAERA authorisations with the facility's radiation-protection team. Define acceptance testing, routine QC, phantoms and medical physics responsibilities at specification stage; an equipment quotation does not itself authorise clinical operation.

What each option is built for

PICOLA SCINTRON (MiE GmbH)

Best suited to: Compact small-field planar imaging, including appropriately configured thyroid studies.

Typically runs in: District and specialist hospitals building a focused nuclear medicine service, and departments adding a dedicated small-organ room.

• Compact small-field-of-view detector designed for small-organ work
• 10-inch detector carrying 37 matched 2-inch photomultiplier tubes
• Detector tilt and height driven from a hand controller
• Compact footprint for a dedicated small-organ imaging space

Confirm before selecting: Confirm that the 25.4 cm field of view, collimator and patient positioning cover each intended study; do not assume suitability for all renal protocols. Agree room layout, radiation protection, utilities and the facility's authorisation requirements.

Full specification for PICOLA SCINTRON

SYNGULA SCINTRON (MiE GmbH)

Best suited to: Planar work across a large field of view — static, dynamic and gated studies.

Typically runs in: Departments whose reported workload is predominantly planar, imaging both seated and lying patients.

• Large field of view in a compact single-head format
• 37 matched photomultiplier tubes with a 3/8-inch sodium iodide crystal
• Static, dynamic and gated acquisition
• Wide choice of collimators for different isotopes and studies
• Images patients sitting as well as lying

Confirm before selecting: A shielded room, collimator storage and handling, and a BAERA licence for the practice.

Full specification for SYNGULA SCINTRON

DIACAM SCINTRON (MiE GmbH)

Best suited to: All-energy SPECT, whole-body and planar imaging on one system.

Typically runs in: General nuclear medicine departments that need SPECT and whole-body capability from a single-head platform.

• All-energy SPECT alongside whole-body and planar imaging
• Large rectangular detector with 59 high-efficiency photomultiplier tubes
• Supplied with the SCINTRON acquisition and processing system
• Patient handling system rated for higher patient loads

Confirm before selecting: A shielded room sized for whole-body travel, and a BAERA licence for the practice.

Full specification for DIACAM SCINTRON

ECAM NOVA Scintron (MiE GmbH)

Best suited to: Busy departments running SPECT, whole-body and planar studies at volume.

Typically runs in: Medical college and tertiary hospital departments where the daily list is long and acquisition time drives throughput.

• Dual-head geometry for faster SPECT and whole-body acquisition
• FRED digital detectors with 59 photomultiplier tubes per head
• Real-time body contouring
• Integrated touchscreen for positioning
• Detector heads configurable for different acquisition geometries

Confirm before selecting: Check the manufacturer's installation drawing, electrical supply, floor loading and clearance for all detector positions. Agree radiation protection and the facility's authorisation requirements.

Full specification for ECAM NOVA Scintron

VERITON (Spectrum Dynamics Medical)

Best suited to: Whole-body digital CZT SPECT when integrated CT is not required for the agreed protocols.

Typically runs in: Departments moving to solid-state detectors that do not need CT built into the same gantry.

• 360-degree ring of 12 digital CZT detector columns
• Adaptive body contouring brings detectors close to the patient
• OSEM reconstruction with resolution recovery
• Attenuation and scatter correction options

Confirm before selecting: Verify the offered reconstruction and correction options and any separate CT workflow. Obtain the manufacturer's room, power, cooling and loading requirements, with radiation protection and authorisation responsibilities defined.

Full specification for VERITON

VERITON-CT 400 Series (Spectrum Dynamics Medical)

Best suited to: Hybrid SPECT/CT imaging head to toes on a single digital platform.

Typically runs in: Tertiary centres and referral hospitals needing anatomical localisation and attenuation correction in one study.

• Ring-shaped gantry with 12 swivelling CZT detector columns
• Detectors move to within millimetres of the body contour
• Head-to-toes scanning in hybrid mode
• Attenuation, scatter and partial-volume correction on reconstruction

Confirm before selecting: Define CT use, scan coverage and included reconstruction options. Obtain the offered system's installation requirements and a qualified shielding review, with applicable nuclear medicine and CT authorisations identified.

Full specification for VERITON-CT 400 Series

D-SPECT VISTA (Spectrum Dynamics Medical)

Best suited to: A first move from an analogue sodium iodide cardiac camera to solid-state CZT.

Typically runs in: Cardiac services establishing dedicated myocardial perfusion imaging with a defined upgrade path.

• Entry point to the D-SPECT family
• Solid-state CZT myocardial perfusion imaging
• Flexible scan positioning
• Manufacturer-described upgrade path to D-SPECT CARDIO, subject to the offered configuration

Confirm before selecting: Confirm supported protocols, patient positioning and any planned CARDIO upgrade in writing. Define room, radiation protection, cardiology workflow and facility authorisation requirements.

Full specification for D-SPECT VISTA

D-SPECT CARDIO (Spectrum Dynamics Medical)

Best suited to: A dedicated cardiac service where myocardial perfusion is the core workload.

Typically runs in: Cardiology centres and tertiary hospitals reporting high volumes of myocardial perfusion imaging.

• Dedicated cardiac SPECT with an open gantry
• CZT detector columns swivel while the gantry stays still
• Patients scanned upright, supine or at any angle between
• List-mode acquisition for supported processing and quantification workflows

Confirm before selecting: Confirm the required cardiac protocols, processing licences and validation for any flow quantification. Define patient access, radiation protection, cardiology workflow and facility authorisation requirements.

Full specification for D-SPECT CARDIO

Include in your enquiry

• Request a model-specific quotation separating equipment, software, accessories and service scope
• Agree the site survey, room planning and installation responsibilities before ordering
• Identify facility licensing responsibilities and any documentation assistance included in the offer
• Specify acceptance tests, suitable QC phantoms and the clinical physics team's role
• Confirm warranty, spare-parts arrangements and any proposed maintenance contract
• Define training for technologists and reporting staff, including the applications and time covered

If you tell us the study mix, the daily patient load and the dimensions of the room, we will shortlist against those constraints rather than push a particular model. Where two systems both fit, we will say so and set out what separates them for your department specifically.

Compare imaging scope and department readiness

Compare systems against the planned studies and the department’s clinical and physics brief. Equipment purchase costs are distinct from patient examination charges.

General-purpose camera: ECAM NOVA

Review the proposed camera, collimators, workstation and acquisition/processing scope.

Confirm in the offer: Confirm hardware condition, configuration, software licences and acceptance responsibilities.

Explore General-purpose camera: ECAM NOVA

Cardiac imaging options

Distinguish dedicated cardiac configurations from the broader department equipment requirement.

Confirm in the offer: Confirm study support, patient access, software and the clinical team’s acceptance criteria.

Explore Cardiac imaging options

VERITON family

Specify the exact SPECT or SPECT/CT configuration and planned workload.

Confirm in the offer: Separate CT options, room work, installation, training and ongoing support in the offer.

Explore VERITON family

Prepare a comparable quotation

• Planned examinations, workload and patient-access requirements
• Room drawings, access route and utilities
• Hardware/software schedule, acceptance and service responsibilities

Reference information

Discuss your shortlist