Evaluation of Thyroid Scintigraphy in Small Animals

Thyroid scintigraphy in rats and mice with 99mTC and 123I was attempted to examine whether this modality might be used in small animals and to describe the possibilities of its application in examing experimentally produced thyroid diseases. A human gamma camera with a pinhole collimator improved for small animals was used for imaging. Thyroid images with 99mTc were obtained 20 minutes after injection and those with 123I were 24 hours after administration. All the scintigrams, although those obtained from mice with 99mTc displayed overlapped salivary gland images, demonstrated sufficiently clear images in size and shape, which showed that thyroid scintigraphy in small animals should be applicable in examining experimentally produced thyroid disases.