ABSTRACT

Quality control (QC) applications are important for the reliability and accuracy of the results obtained from positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems in clinical trials. With these applications, exposure of patients and employees to more radiation will be prevented, and it will be possible to detect the systems that lost their performance compared to their installation time. QC applications are grouped as acceptance and reference tests, routine periodic QC tests. PET performance tests standardized by National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) should be used as acceptance and reference tests. In addition, the performance of the device should be monitored by following these tests at six-month intervals. PET/computerized tomography (CT) manufacturers often recommend routine QC procedures for their equipment and require users to follow these recommendations to a minimum. If standards are not defined for routine QC procedures, it is recommended to comply with the general minimum standards for routine QC that all PET/CT centers must perform. Routine QC protocols, the image quality of the PET system; CT image quality and CT dose of the patient; the accuracy of CT-based attenuation corrections; the accuracy of the CT and PET co-registration should ensure that problems that can interact any of the performance characteristics are identified. Since performing PET/CT scans by equipment that does not comply with their specifications may compromise image quality, interpretation of images and reliability of results, daily QC parameters must be evaluated and necessary corrective procedures must be taken prior to scanning. The tests are carried out using the protocol provided by the manufacturer.