Feasibility of the \(\beta^-\) Radio-Guided Surgery with a Variety of Radio-Nuclides of Interest to Nuclear Medicine

The \(\beta^-\) based radio-guided surgery overcomes the corresponding \(\gamma\) technique in case the background from healthy tissues is relevant. It can be used only in case a radio-tracer marked with \(^{90}\)Y is available since the current probe prototype was optimized for the emission spectrum of this radio-nuclide. Here we study, with a set of laboratory tests and simulations, the prototype capability in case a different radio-nuclide is chosen among those used in nuclear medicine. As a result we estimate the probe efficiency on electrons and photons as a function of energy and we evaluate the feasibility of a radio-guided surgery exploiting the selected radio-nuclides. We conclude that requiring a 0.1~ml residue to be detected within 1~s by administering 3~MBq/Kg of radio-isotope, the current probe prototype would yield a significant signal in a vast range of values of SUV and TNR in case \(^{31}\)Si,\(^{32}\)P, \(^{97}\)Zr, and \(^{188}\)Re are used. Conversely, a tuning of the detector would be needed to efficiency use \(^{83}\)Br, \(^{133}\)I, and \(^{153}\)Sm, although they could already be used in case of high SUV or TNR values. Finally, \(^{18}\)F,\(^{67}\)Cu, \(^{131}\)I, and \(^{177}\)Lu are not useable for radio-guided surgery with the current probe design.