Tungsten alloy collimator is the core component of a γ camera (gamma camera), more specifically, it is an important part of the detector on a gamma camera. Gamma rays from radioactive source within the body emitted in all directions, so a collimator is needed to achieve high degree of collimation.
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The operating principle of tungsten alloy collimator is absorptive collimation. It means that only gamma rays travelling in certain directions go through and reach the detector, the others are absorbed in the septa.
In fact, collimator in a γ camera is made usually from tungsten alloy or lead to provide high absorption probability. While tungsten alloy collimator is used to replace the traditional lead collimator. Because tungsten alloy shielding material has better gamma ray shielding performance than lead shielding material (Density of tungsten alloy is higher than that of lead. And the shielding performance of the material is closely related to its own density.). Moreover, the overall performance of tungsten alloy is better than that of lead. In addition, tungsten alloy is a lead-free shielding material, and lead is a heavy metal, which is very likely to endanger human health and pollute the environment. It means that tungsten alloy collimator can be recycled, but the handling of lead collimator is a problem.
