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QA/QC of Nuclear Medicine (Annually)

Annual Survey Meter Calibration This procedure is usually performed by the physicist by placing the meter in front of a high-activity cesium sealed source and exposing the meter. The source should produce an exposure reading of at least 30 mR/h at 100 cm. The exposure reading that should be read by the meter is calculated using the inverse square law. The exposed reading should be adjusted to read the same as the calculated value, or within 10%. Accuracy Accuracy is a quality control measure performed annually, and is an assessment of the validity of the calibrator's activity reading compared with the activity of a calibrated sealed source. Two sealed radiation sources greater than 50 Ci and one with an energy between 100 to 500 keV are assayed 3 times each and averaged. Collimator integrity Collimator integrity is performed annually (at minimum) by comparing the extrinsic and intrinsic uniformity floods. The collimator is inspected visually for damage such as dents. Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) The minimum detectable activity (MDA) of each radionuclide for which a particular well counter is used is the activity that increases the gross counts over a counting time t by a value that is significantly greater than that due to random variations in the background counts over t. Equation:

Multiple Window Spatial Registration (MWSR) To test that the images acquired at different photon energies superimpose when imaged simultaneously, in an additive or subtractive mode.

Whole-body scan resolution in air-To test spatial resolution both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of motion. Stability-to check the short-term counting precision. Counting precision is a measure of the stability of the whole system, and is measured by repeated measurements and application of the chi-squared test.

Linearity- To confirm that the calibration setting for a particular radionuclide indicates the correct activity over the entire range of use. Sensitivity- To test constancy. Correspondence between positions of several energy windows- The test is appropriate if the camera is used for dual nuclide examinations or nuclides used have several energies.

Source: http://www.eradimaging.com/site/article.cfm?ID=88 http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/49/7/1114.full http://www.eanm.org/publications/guidelines/4_EJNMMI_Physics_GL_RoutineQC_fulltext_03_2010.pdf http://www.stuk.fi/julkaisut_maaraykset/en_GB/stukopastaa/_files/85186140836594210/default/Advice-from-STUK-netti-isotooppitutk-laitteet.pdf

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