Table 1 Historical timeline for milestones in radioguided surgery

1949

Selverstone et al [1] at Harvard Medical School (Boston, Massachusetts, USA) were the very first to report the concept of radioguided surgery using of a Geiger-Müller tube device and ³²P to detect brain tumors.

1956

Harris et al [3] at the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies Medical Hospital (Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA) were the first to report the application of a gamma detection probe during radioguided surgery using ¹³¹I to detect residual thyroid tissue.

1981

Harvey et al [743] at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas (Dallas, Texas, USA) first reported the application of a gamma detection probe for radioguided biopsy of benign and metastatic bone lesions using ^99mTc methylene diphosphonate.

1981

Ghelman et al [728] at The Hospital for Special Surgery (New York, New York, USA) first reported the application of a gamma detection probe for radioguided resection of a benign bone lesion using ^99mTc methylene diphosphonate.

1984

Aitken et al [289, 290] at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, USA) first reported radioimmunoguided surgery using ¹³¹I-labeled anti-CEA polyclonal antibody to detect colorectal cancer.

1984

Ubhi et al. [408] at Queen's Medical Center/University Hospital (Nottingham, England, UK) first reported radioguided surgery using ²⁰¹Tl-thallous chloride for the detecting a parathyroid adenoma.

1987

Sickle-Santanello et al [299] at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, USA) first reported radioimmunoguided surgery using ¹²⁵I-labeled anti-TAG-72 monoclonal antibody to detect colorectal cancer.

1993

Krag et al [135] at The University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont, USA) first reported radioguided sentinel lymph node biopsy using ^99mTc radiocolloid for breast cancer.

1993

Alex et al [188] at The University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont, USA) first reported radioguided sentinel lymph node biopsy using ^99mTc radiocolloid for malignant melanoma.

1995

Martinez et al [409] at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, USA) first reported use of ^99mTc-MIBI for the detecting parathyroid gland pathology.

1997

Norman and Chheda [410] at The University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida, USA) popularized the technique of minimally-invasive radioguided surgery using ^99mTc-MIBI for the surgical management of primary hyperparathyroidism.

1999

Desai et al [35, 36] at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, USA) first reported use of ¹⁸F-FDG-directed surgery in the surgical management of colorectal cancer.

2008

Strong et al [29] at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, New York, USA) first reported radioimmunoguided surgery using ¹²⁴I-labeled monoclonal antibody specific for clear cell renal cell cancer.