Thursday, December 14, 2023

Instrumentation QC for nuclear cardiology boards notes

Daily:

Uniformity tests 3 million counts for small FOV, 5 million counts for large FOV

Photopeak (energy peaking)

Area survery (at end of each working day) where unsealed radioactive material is prepared for  use and administered

GM counter (survery meter) to measure contamination
- check battery daily
- source check (daily) to see if it responds to radiation

Dose calibrator
- background check daily
- voltage check


Weekly:

Planar resolution

Linearity (Bar phantom)

Sensitivity

COR (or monthly)
 

Quarterly:

Plexiglass Jaszczak phantoms (SPECT contrast, resolution, and uniformity) or annually


6 months:

Leak test at sealed source

Each licensee who uses a sealed source shall have the source tested for leakage at intervals not to exceed 6 months. 

Yearly:

Survey meter should be calibrated (to ensure meter responds accurately to radiation)

Dose calibrator (accuracy)

Manufacturer recommendation:
Uniformity correction

equivalent dose, exposure, activity units mnemonic for nuclear medicine boards

 https://youtube.com/shorts/-7pQUPw9UkU

Half life of PET radiotracers mnemonic

Theory of equilibrium mnemonic for nuclear medicine boards

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QVdlXnw9mXc



Atomic number, mass number mnemonic for chemistry

Dobutamine dosing for cardiac stress test mnemonic

Critical organ for radionuclides used in cardiology mnemonic for nuclear Cardiology boards


For RBCs labelled with Tc 99m critical organ is the spleen.

Radioisotopes in nuclear cardiology produced by cyclotron

NRC dose limit for members of the public mnemonic

See video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/T3VLOStIMQc?si=txskgKX4-AtdhiS0


The total effective dose equivalent to individual members of the public from the licensed operation does not exceed 0.1 rem (1 mSv) in a year, exclusive of the dose contributions from background radiation, from any administration the individual has received, from exposure to individuals administered radioactive material and released under § 35.75, from voluntary participation in medical research programs, and from the licensee's disposal of radioactive material into sanitary sewerage in accordance with § 20.2003