Planar visual fusion scintigraphy.

Planar scintigraphy, while providing useful information about the distribution of a particular radiopharmaceutical being imaged, often does not provide adequate information about the surrounding anatomical structures, thereby complicating diagnosis. We have therefore explored a means of fusing planar scintigraphic images with visual photographic images to supply an anatomic correlate to regions of radiopharmaceutical accumulation. The digital visual image will provide a context for the relevant structures in the scintigraphic image. Phantom data confirm registration accuracy to within 1 pixel. Inaccuracy of camera-patient distance results in <1% image size change per cm height error. Initial clinical imaging has subjectively been very useful in low background applications such as lymphoscintigraphy, whole body I-131 NaI imaging for thyroid cancer and In-111 white blood cell infection imaging.