Development of an “in situ” calibration methodology to activity meters

Abstract

The performance of a safety and efficient practice of a nuclear medicine service depends, among other factors, on a complete quality control program, especially in the case of the radionuclide activity measuring instrument, the activimeter. Several factors may influence the accuracy of the measurements performed with an activimeter, and the largest sources of errors are related to the types of containers that contain radiopharmaceuticals (eg, thickness, size and volume). A complete quality control program should include the calibration of all measurement instruments used in the procedure. However, in Brazil, the actual standard that establishes the requirements of radiological protection for nuclear medicine services (NMS), does not include the calibration of the activimeter. Considering that these instruments, for various reasons, are difficult to remove for sending to a Calibration Service, the purpose of this work is to develop a methodology for activimeter calibration that can be applied "in situ" to the most used radiopharmaceutical, 99mTc.