• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.307-312
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• 2021

In nuclear medicine, radioactive isotope tracers are administered to the human body to obtain and evaluate disease morphological information and biological function information. Dose calibrator is a device used to measure the radioactivity of a single nuclide in medical institutions. Administration of the correct dose to the human body acts as an important factor in diagnosis and treatment, and measurement through a dose calibrator before administration is the most important factor. Dose calibrator performs daily quality control after installation in each medical institution. Quality control is a means of guaranteeing quality control after installation, and is essential for improving the quality of treatment and promoting patient safety. Therefore, accurate and standardized performance evaluation methods should be established. In this study, 3D printing was used for quantitative evaluation of quality control by increasing the accuracy and standardization of quality control. When the 3D printer was installed and reproducibility was tested, the error range of the expected value and reading value decreased by 0.302% in the F-18 nuclide and 0.09% in the ^99mTc-pertechnate nuclide than when the 3D printer was installed. The error rate for other nuclides was also found to have a low error rate for reproducibility tests when 3D printing was installed.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.115-121
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure F-18 FDG with two different types of dose calibrator measuring radionuclide and radioactivity and investigate the effect of F-18 FDG on SUV (Standard Uptake Value) in human body. Materials and Methods: Two different dose calibrators used in this study are CRC-15 Dual PET (Capintec) and CRC-15R (Capintec). Inject 1 mL, 2 mL, 3 mL of F-18 FDG into three 2 mL syringes, respectively, and measure initial radioactivity from each dose calibrator. Then measure and record radioactivity at 30 minute interval for 270 minutes. According to the initial radioactivity, linearity between decay factor driven from radioactive decay formula and the values measured by dose calibrator have been analyzed by simple linear regression. Fine linear regression line optimizing values measured with CRC-15 through regression analysis on the basis of the volume of which the measured value is close to the most ideal one in CRC-15 Dual PET. Create ROI on lung, liver, and region part of 50 persons who has taken PET/CT test, applying values from linear regression equation, and find SUV. We have also performed paired t-test to examine statistically significant difference in the radioactivity measured with CRC-15 Dual PET, CRC-15R and its SUV. Results: Regression analysis of radioactivity measured with CRC-15 Dual PET and CRC-15R shows results as follows: in the case 1 mL, the r statistic representing correlation was 0.9999 and linear regression equation was y=1.0345x+0.2601; in 2 mL case, r=0.9999, linear regression equation y=1.0226x+0.1669; in 3 mL case, r=0.9999, linear regression equation y=1.0094x+0.1577. Based on the linear regression equation from each volume, t-test results show significant difference in SUV of ROI in lung, liver, region part in all three case. P-values in each case are as follows: in 1 mL case, lung, liver and region (p<0.0001); in 2 mL case, lung (p<0.002), liver and region (p<0.0001); in 3 mL case, lung (p<0.044), liver and region (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Radioactivity measured with CRC-15 Dual PET, CRC-15R, dose calibrator for F-18 FDG test, do not show difference correlation, while these values infer that SUV has significant differences in the aspect of uptake in human body. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the difference of SUV in human body when using these dose calibrator.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.159-166
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• 2009

Obviously, the administration of the prescribed amount of activity to the patient requires proper operation of the dose calibrator, which shall be verified by implementing the required quality control on the instrument. This investigation examined the accuracy and precision of dose calibrator activity measurement of the radiopharmaceutical F-18 FDG. To investigate the status of the nuclear medicine centers in Korea for the performance of dose calibrators, 10 centers providing PET/CT system services in Korea were inspected in 2008. We measured accuracy and precision in 10 equipments in consideration of PET/CT model, installation area, and installation time. According to the results of comparative analysis of 10 dose calibrators used to measure radioactivity of F-18 FDG, accuracy was -5.00~4.50% and precision was 0.05~0.45%, satisfying the international standards, which are accuracy ${\pm}$10% and precision ${\pm}$5%. This study demonstrated that, for accurate measurements, no adjustment is necessary for a dose calibrator setting when measuring different dose calibrators of F-18 FDG activity prescriptions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2020

Purpose It is intended to figure out the errors derived from changes in depth and volume when measuring the Standard source and ^99mTc-pertechnetate by using a Dose calibrator. Then recommend appropriate measurement depth and volume. Materials and Methods As a Dose calibrator, CRC-15βeta and CRC-15R (Capintec, New Jersey, USA) was used, and the measurement sources were ⁵⁷Co, ¹³³Ba, ¹³⁷Cs and ^99mTc-pertechnetate was also adopted due to its high frequency of use. The Standard source was respectively measured the changes according to its depth without changing the volume, in a range of 0 cm to 15 cm from the bottom of the ion chamber. ^99mTc-pertechnetate was measured at each depth by changing the volume with 0.1 mL, 0.3 mL, 0.5 mL, 0.7 mL and 0.9 mL Respectively. And the depth range was from 0 cm to 15 cm at the bottom of the ion chamber. Results In the case of Standard source ⁵⁷Co, ¹³³Ba, ¹³⁷Cs and ^99mTc-pertechnetate, there were significant differences according to the measurement depth(p<0.05). ^99mTc-pertechnetate has a negative correlation coefficient according to the depth, and the error of the measured value was negligible at a depth from 0 cm to 7 cm at 0.3 mL and 0.5 mL, and the range of error increased as the volume increased. Conclusion In clinical practice, it is sometimes installed differently than the Standard depth recommended by the equipment company. If it's measured at the recommended depth and volume, it could be thought that unnecessary exposure of the operator and the patient will be reduced, and more accurate radiation exams will be possible in quantitative analysis.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 2001

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of performing nuclear medicine quality control in korea and to test selected protocols of quality control of nuclear medicine counting system and gamma camera. Materials and Methods: Fifty three hospitals were included to investigate the current status of nuclear medicine quality control in korea. The precision of dose calibrator and thyroid uptake system was measured with Tc-99m 35.52 MBq for 2 minuets and Tc-99m 5.14 MBq for 10 sec every one minute, respectively. The sensitivity of CeraSPECT$^{TM}$ with low energy high resolution parallel hole collimator was measured using two cylindrical phantoms with 15 cm in diameter and 12 cm and 30 cm in heights containing Tc-99m. The correction factor for sensitivity of CeraSPECT$^{TM}$ was calculated using phantom data. The system planar sensitivity, uniformity, count rate and spatial resolution were measured for Varicam gamma camera with low energy high resolution parallel hole collimator using 140 keV centered 20% energy window, 256$\times$256 or 512$\times$512 matrix sizes. Results: The quality control of dose calibrator and well counter were showed poor performance status. On the other hand, The quality control of gamma camera and other systems were showed relatively good performance status. The results of precision of dose calibrator and thyroid uptake system was $\pm$1.4%(<$\pm$5%) and chi^2=29.7(>16.92), respectively. It showed that the sensitivity of CeraSPECT$^{TM}$ was higher in center slices compared with the edge slices. After correction of nonuniform sensitivities for patient data, it showed better results compare with prior to correction. System planar sensitivity of Varicam gamma camera was 4.39 CPM/MBq. The observed count rate at 20% loss was 102,407 counts/sec (head 1), 113,427 counts/sec (head 2), when input count rate was 81,926 counts/sec (head 1), 90,741 counts/sec (head 2). The spatial resolution without scatter medium were 8.16 mm of FWHM and 14.85 mm of FWTM. The spatial resolution with scatter medium were 8.87 mm of FWHM and 18.87 mm of FWTM. Conclusion: It is necessary to understand the importance of quality control and to perform quality control of nuclear medicine devices.vices.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2023

High-dose I-131 used for the treatment of thyroid cancer causes localized exposure among radiology technologists handling it. There is a delay between the calibration date and when the dose of I-131 is administered to a patient. Therefore, it is necessary to directly measure the radioactivity of the administered dose using a dose calibrator. In this study, we attempted to apply machine learning modeling to measured external dose rates from shielded I-131 in order to predict their radioactivity. External dose rates were measured at 1 m, 0.3 m, and 0.1 m distances from a shielded container with the I-131, with a total of 868 sets of measurements taken. For the modeling process, we utilized the hold-out method to partition the data with a 7:3 ratio (609 for the training set:259 for the test set). For the machine learning algorithms, we chose linear regression, decision tree, random forest and XGBoost. To evaluate the models, we calculated root mean square error (RMSE), mean square error (MSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) to evaluate accuracy and R² to evaluate explanatory power. Evaluation results are as follows. Linear regression (RMSE 268.15, MSE 71901.87, MAE 231.68, R² 0.92), decision tree (RMSE 108.89, MSE 11856.92, MAE 19.24, R² 0.99), random forest (RMSE 8.89, MSE 79.10, MAE 6.55, R² 0.99), XGBoost (RMSE 10.21, MSE 104.22, MAE 7.68, R² 0.99). The random forest model achieved the highest predictive ability. Improving the model's performance in the future is expected to contribute to lowering exposure among radiology technologists.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to examine the dead time effects and derive the correction factor. Using the thyroid probe and lucite cylindrical phantom, $^{99m}Tc$ 10.50mCi and $^{123}I$ 2.08mCi were counted with medical spectrometer at intervals of 2 hours for 43hrs and 79 hours. respectively. $^{123}I$ 2.06mCi was counted at intervals of 6 hours for 910 hours. To measure the starting point of dead time effect, the radioactivity was measured with dose calibrator in each time. The dead time effects started at about 0.80mCi at all distances for $^{99m}Tc$, and about 1.00mCi for $^{123}I$. The radioactivity corresponding to 20％ counts loss is 1.29(center), 1.28(2cm), 1.31(4cm), 1.13(6cm)mCi for $^{99m}Tc$ and 1.39mCi for $^{123}I$. The correction factors for 2mCi of radioactivity as an example were 1.52(center), 1.52(2cm), 1.50(4cm), 1.58(6cm) for $^{99m}Tc$ and 1.58 for $^{123}I$.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.197-203
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• 2023

Background: The thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) and Monte Carlo (MC) dosimetry are carried out to determine the occupational dose for personnel in the handling of ¹²⁵I seed sources. Materials and Methods: TLDs were placed in different layers of the Alderson-Rando phantom in the thyroid, lung and also eyes and skin surface. An ¹²⁵I seed source was prepared and its activity was measured using a dose calibrator and was placed at two distances of 20 and 50 cm from the Alderson-Rando phantom. In addition, the Monte Carlo N-Particle Extended (MCNPX 2.6.0) code and a computational phantom with a lattice-based geometry were used for organ dose calculations. Results and Discussion: The comparison of TLD and MC results in the thyroid and lung is consistent. Although the relative difference of MC dosimetry to TLD for the eyes was between 4% and 13% and for the skin between 19% and 23%, because of the existence of a higher uncertainty regarding TLD positioning in the eye and skin, these inaccuracies can also be acceptable. The isodose distribution was calculated in the cross-section of the head phantom when the ¹²⁵I seed was at two distances of 20 and 50 cm and it showed that the greatest dose reduction was observed for the eyes, skin, thyroid, and lungs, respectively. The results of MC dosimetry indicated that for near the head positions (distance of 20 cm) the absorbed dose rates for the eye lens, eye and skin were 78.1±2.3, 59.0±1.8, and 10.7±0.7 µGy/mCi/hr, respectively. Furthermore, we found that a 30 cm displacement for the ¹²⁵I seed reduced the eye and skin doses by at least 3- and 2-fold, respectively. Conclusion: Using a computational phantom to monitor the dose to the sensitive organs (eye and skin) for personnel involved in the handling of ¹²⁵I seed sources can be an accurate and inexpensive method.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.326-330
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• 1994

A $^{82}Sr/^{82}Rb$ generator was prepared by loading $^{82}Sr$ to preconditioned tin dioxide column. The generator was eluted by normal saline with flow rate up to 8m1/min, and the eluted radioactivity was monitored by dose calibrator. Radioactivity began to come out at 5ml and reached to peak around 9ml. The total eluted radioactivity increased linearly with flow rate, and the maximum obtained radioactivity was 35mCi at 8m1/min. The $^{82}Rb$ preparation was proven to be free from both strontium radioactivity and pyrogen. The $^{82}Rb$ was injected to normal female volunteer and positron emission tomographic Image of heart was obtained successfully.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.701-707
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• 2023

In PET/CT, the injection volume of ¹⁸F-FDG directly affects the SUV(standard uptake value), which can affect the reading results. Therefore, it is important to inject the correct dose value of ¹⁸F-FDG. In this study, we performed the correlation between the residual radioactivity remaining in the syringe and catheter insertion device according to the number of flushing during ¹⁸F-FDG injection. CRC-25R dose calibrator, catheter insertion devices, 3 cc syringes and 50 cc physiological saline were used in this study, and the results were statistically analyzed. As a result, the total residual radioactivity of the syringe and catheter insertion device remained the highest at 5.84% after two flushing, and the least remained at 1.49% after five flushing. The correlation analysis results showed that the number of flushing had a negative correlation with the residual radioactivity of the syringe at -0.436 and the catheter insertion device at -0.300. As a result of one-way distributed analysis of the average according to the number of flushing, the syringe showed a significant decrease at 4 times, and the catheter insertion device showed a significant decrease at 5 times. However, considering that an average of 0.8% remains in the case of catheter insertion devices, four time flushing seems to be the most appropriate.