Quality Control of the Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this dissertation is to assess the performance of Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) machine at tlle nuclear medicine department of Radiation & Isotopes Centre in Khartoum (RICK) as well as to assess the status of the quality control program set for this type of imaging machine both at RICK and at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Oncology (INMO) in Wad Madani. The theoretical part of this dissertation includes historical background and developments of SPECT as well as construction and function of this equipment. Also details of the QC tests are described. The practical part of this dissertation includes conducting of direct QC tests on the SPECT machine available at RICK where the following tests were performed: Intrinsic Uniformity, Intrinsic Energy Resolution, Intrinsic energy Resolution, Spectrum analysis, Extrinsic Uniformity, Centre of Rotation , Sensitivity, Collimator Angulations, Shield Leakage,- size of pixel, total perfonnance and reconstructed point — source. All tests were performed using the available tools at RICK that include a special designed phantom and Tc-99m as a source of gamma photons. The machine passed successfully these entire tests except Intrinsic Spatial Resolution which indicated that the machine is in need for a prompt action for maintenance before such malfunction affects seriously the image quality. Also a questionnaire about this issue was prepared and distributed among relevant workers in the nuclear medicine department both at RICK and INMO. The collected information from this questionnaire revealed that there is a regular quality control program for SPECT machine at the two centers however issues like documentation, regular preventive maintenance and staff training need to be strengthened.