Gamma Camera Acceptance Testing

Acceptance Testing is widely recommended or required by various governmental and professional organizations including NRC, JCAHO, ACNP, ACR, ICANL and SNM. These tests are to be performed before a camera is first used for clinical imaging. Acceptance Testing is used to assess whether a camera is safe and performing adequately for clinical use, to determine if the camera is performing in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications and to verify the camera was installed correctly. Acceptance Testing does not eliminate the need for Routine Quality Control and conversely, Routine Quality Control does not eliminate the need for Acceptance Testing. Rather, Acceptance Testing assesses an additional set of camera parameters as well as provides a baseline or benchmark performance level that is continuously monitored by the Routine Quality Control Procedures. A camera may pass tests designed to evaluate planar performance but not pass the more stringent requirements for Tomographic usage.

The following is a summary of the recommendations and requirements as presented by the various organizations and professionals in the field of nuclear medicine and physics.

Mechanical

Camera Motion Assessment
Patient Pallet Operation
Camera Safety Emergency Stop and Interlocks
Readout Accuracy
Detector Shielding

Planar Tests

Intrinsic

Intrinsic Uniformity with and without Correction
Intrinsic Spatial Linearity
Intrinsic Spatial Resolution
Intrinsic Energy Resolution
Multiple Energy Window Spatial Registration
Multiple Radionuclide Intrinsic Uniformity
Dead Time and Maximum Count Rate Capability (Intrinsic Sensitivity)
Detector to Detector Sensitivity

Extrinsic

Extrinsic Sensitivity for each Collimator Set
Extrinsic Uniformity for each Collimator Set
Extrinsic Spatial Resolution, Collimator Angulation and Damage for each Collimator Set

SPECT Tests

Rotational Uniformity
Tomographic Uniformity
Tomographic Contrast
Tomographic Resolution
Multi Detector Registration
Center of Rotation
Pallet Registration

Whole Body Imaging

Whole Body Registration
Whole Body Spatial Resolution