Whole-body counter

Measuring instrument for the detection of the activity of radionuclides in the whole human body. Only radionuclides emitting gamma radiation can be measured. A whole-body counter mostly consists of

• a couch or a chair the person to be examined is lying or sitting on during the measurement,
• one or several detectors to measure the gamma radiation emanating the measured person's body during the measurement, and
• a suitable shielding of the measuring instrument against environmental radiation.

Older devices use sodium iodide detectors. Instead of these, highpure germanium detectors are used increasingly, the latter having a significantly higher energy resolution (the higher the energy resolution, the better the various measured radionuclides can be distinguished from each other).