What is a scintillation detector ?
The ionizing radiation detection system used in gamma cameras, rectilinear scanners, and gamma counters. It consists of a scintillator (usually a sodium iodide crystal, thallium activated), a photomultiplier (PM) tube, and supporting electronics. Scintillators glow when exposed to X-rays and small flashes occur in response to gamma rays. Thus an electric pulse can be generated by the photomultiplier tube for each gamma-ray interaction. This system is employed in the gamma camera and rectilinear scanner, to produce a map of radionuclide distribution whithin the body. In a well-scintillation counter the count rate indicates the quantity of a radionuclide and the intensity of the scintillation indicates the energy of the gamma-rays.
