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

updated mnemonic here https://youtu.be/MQmgs6-A_7o?si=zk5xCwdoAtjSI1KG 

Butterworth filter mnemonic (impact of critical frequency and order on resolution and noise)

Transmission factor practice question

Assume there is an initial radiation level of 15 R/hr inside a facility. The walls of the facility are constructed with tungsten, having a 30% transmission factor, and fiberglass, with an 80% transmission factor. How much radiation reaches outside the facility?

Annual radiation dose limit for radiation workers mnemonic

See video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/OgsLHBRZuuI?si=kjLZayyMjmN5hKdj

Sievert and Roentgen equivalent man mnemonic 1 Sv = 100 rem

Applications of indium-111 antimyosin imaging

Applications of indium-111 antimyosin imaging:

Evaluation of the site, extent and quantitation of the severity of myocardial necrosis.

Myocarditis

Uptake  after 1 year post-transplant is associated with an increased rejection rate

Anthracycline treatment - unclear role

Adenosine dose mnemonic for Nuclear Cardiology boards

Molybdenum breakdown limit for technetium at time of administration mnemonic

See video here https://youtube.com/shorts/kCyJ_AYLQcM

Regadenoson mnemonic for Nuclear Cardiology boards

Dipyridamole mnemonic for Nuclear Cardiology boards

PET crystals

https://youtube.com/shorts/KrYSxeF0CqA?si=LdTNJd2aJc4FK0mc

LSO/LYSO has small decay time

Allows for improved coincidence timing

Linear no-threshold model in radiation safety

The most conservative theory of radiation is the "linear no-threshold" (LNT) model. According to this model, there is no safe threshold for exposure to ionizing radiation, and any amount of radiation, no matter how small, has the potential to cause harm. The LNT model assumes a linear relationship between radiation dose and the risk of adverse health effects, extending this linear relationship down to zero dose.

In other words, the LNT model suggests that the risk of radiation-induced health effects, such as cancer, increases linearly with increasing radiation dose, and there is no level of radiation exposure considered completely without risk.