Chapter 15 – Quality Control

This chapter provides detailed instructions for performing the Millenium VG/
Discovery VH quality control procedures, and specifies their regular
performance schedule.

WARNING

Failing to perform the QC procedures as specified in this chapter may cause

serious deterioration in images quality, resulting by misinterpretation of the
acquired images.

The information in this chapter is given in the following order:

z Accessing the QC Utilities on page 15-1.

z Daily QC on page 15-2 – to be performed on a daily basis, according

to the planned scans.

z Weekly QC Test on page 15-23 – to be performed when either the Basic

Daily QC or the CoDe Daily QC fails.

z CoDe Loss Utility on page 15-29

z CoDe Sensitivity QC Execution on page 15-31

Accessing the QC Utilities

z The basic QC utilities are accessed from the Maintenance container,

residing in the Acquisition Station container.

z The X-ray QC utilities are accessed from the XRay Utilities container,
residing in the Acquisition Station window.

z The CoDe Quality Control utilities are accessed from the CoDe
Utilities container, which resides within the Neurology and the Tumor
and Inflammation containers.

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Daily QC Quality Control

Daily QC

The Daily QC procedure(s) relevant for the type of scans planned for a certain
day must be performed before performing the relevant scans.

There are three Daily QC procedures, each relevant for a specific scan type, as
follows:

z DLQC – Basic Daily QC for Static, Dynamic, SPECT, Whole Body,

Gated (SYMA and Gated SPECT acquisitions. Refer to Basic Daily QC
Test (DLQC) on page 15-3

z XRAY DLQC – Daily QC for Transmission Emission acquisitions Refer

to XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC) on page 15-8.

z CoDe DLQC – Daily QC for Coincidence imaging. Refer to CoDe Daily

QC on page 15-20.

Perform the relevant Daily QC procedures in the order specified above.

The time required to perform all three procedures is about one hour..

WARNING

Failing to perform the relevant Daily QC procedures before starting the

corresponding scans, may cause serious deterioration in images quality,
resulting by misinterpretation of the acquired images.

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Basic Daily QC (DLQC)

Basic Daily QC Test (DLQC)

Indications

z Daily Quality Control of the basic acquisitions

z Interruption in power supply to the Gantry

z Test image quality

Description

The Daily Quality Control (QC) routine provides a quality control test of the basic
imaging system and includes the following procedures that are automatically
carried out:

1. PHA acquisition, energy peak position and energy resolution calculation.

2. STATIC acquisition of a flood image applying energy, linearity and

sensitivity corrections.

3. Calculating the uniformity of the flood image (in accordance with NEMA
standard).

The preferable radionuclide used to test is a 57Co flood source or 99mTc point
source.

Even though the Frame Size is non-NEMA [256], the Basic Daily QC routine
applies the NEMA standard.

Note The Daily QC procedure is intended to test the stability of the system
performance characteristics. It does not test the values of the system
performance parameters themselves as defined by any standard
(for example, NEMA, 1994).

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Basic Daily QC (DLQC)

Performing Daily QC in H-Mode Using a 57Co Flood Source

1. Prepare the source. The Count Rate should not exceed 20 Kc/s for either
Detector Head.

2. Position the Detector Heads in H-Mode.

3. Use the RADIAL <IN> key to bring the Heads to the maximum IN position.

4. Place the Co57 flood source between the Heads with collimators mounted.

5. From the Maintenance container, double-click the Daily QC icon to

activate the procedure; the system displays a Dialog Notebook. The first
page titled DLQC PARAMETERS contains the settings of the parameters
used in the procedure.

6. From the drop down list, for Isotope, select the appropriate isotope and
press <ENTER> or click [OK].

Note Do not change the settings of the following check box parameters:
• STATIC Auto Start
• ITER Auto Start
• Show DATA
• Show REPORT

During the test all functions are implemented automatically in the following
sequence:

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and GAUSSFIT of PHA histogram

for Head 1.

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and GAUSSFIT of PHA histogram

for Head 2.

z Flood STATIC (4 million counts) acquisition, simultaneously for

both Heads.

z Flood image integral uniformity calculation for both Heads.

z A Daily QC Report is created and stored in the Archive in a Study labeled

Daily QC.

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Basic Daily QC (DLQC)

Performing Daily QC in L-Mode Using a 99mTc Point Source

1. Prepare the source. The Count Rate should not exceed 20 Kc/s for either
Detector Head.

2. Position the Detector Heads in L-Mode.

3. Place the Tc99m point source at a distance of 2.5 m from the mounted
decoy collimator.

4. From the Maintenance container, double-click the Daily QC icon to

activate the procedure; the system displays a Dialog Notebook. The first
page titled DLQC PARAMETERS contains the settings of the parameters
used in the procedure.

5. From the drop down list, for Isotope, select the appropriate isotope and
Head number, and press <ENTER> or click [OK].

Note Do not change the settings of the following check box parameters:
• STATIC Auto Start
• ITER Auto Start
• Show DATA
• Show REPORT

During the test all functions are implemented automatically in the following
sequence:

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and GAUSSFIT of PHA histogram for the
defined Head (1 or 2)

z Flood STATIC (4 million counts) acquisition, simultaneously for the

defined Head (1 or 2).

z Flood image integral uniformity calculation for the defined Head (1 or 2).

z A Daily QC Report is created and stored in the Archive in a Study labeled

Daily QC.

6. Repeat the procedure for the second Head.

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Basic Daily QC (DLQC)

Viewing Reports

1. From the Acquisition Station window click the Local Catalog button

The Local catalog opens.

2. Highlight the study labeled ‘Daily-QC’ by clicking on it.

3. Click the SHOW REPORTS button to open the Daily QC Report.

4. See Figure 15-1 on page 15-7.

The Report contains input parameters, date, test duration, energy peak position
and energy resolution values of the acquired isotope. and integral uniformity
value of the flood image of both Heads. It also displays the PHA histograms for
each Head.

Daily QC Test Results Acceptability

The results of the Daily QC test depend on test conditions such as isotope used,
gantry setup (with or without collimators), acquired count statistics and others.
The results obtained may be compared with system specifications only if the
Daily QC was performed under test conditions equivalent to NEMA demands.

However, the result of a short Daily QC procedure represents the system status.
Its aim is to evaluate the stability of the system performance. The acceptable
values of the Daily QC test results are shown in the table below.

System Parameter Acceptable Value

Peak position (keV) 99mTc (TC99/TCHE): 140 + 2
57
Co (CO57/COHE): 122 + 3
Energy resolution (%) < 11.0
Integral uniformity (%)CFOV: < 5.0

If the results are not within the acceptable values, perform the basic Weekly
QC test procedure (Basic Weekly Calibration on page 15-23).

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Basic Daily QC (DLQC)

Figure 15-1 Basic Daily & Weekly QC Report for Simultaneous Acquisition

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XRAY Daily QC

XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

Overview

The XRAY DLQC procedure consists of five steps:

z XRAY Warm-up – warming up of the X-Ray Tube by acquiring a few

slices in low Voltage (120 KV).

z Air Calibration – acquisition of a single full rotation slice, using the

nominal X-Ray values. This slice is used to create the Air Table.

z Survey Acquisition – used to define the Phantom slice for QC

Analysis.

z Water Phantom Acquisition – used to check the quality of the X-ray

image. This step requires the uniform Water Phantom.

z Water Uniformity and Noise Analysis – used to check the quality of

the X-ray image. This step requires the uniform water slice image. Refer
to Analysis on page 15-16.

Note Water Phantom Acquisition, followed by Water Uniformity and Noise Analysis
can be performed separately using the procedure described on page 15-19.

Note It is highly recommended to perform the X-ray Daily QC procedure once a day,
before acquiring X-ray data. Warm-up must precede Air Calibration. The
Quality Control check should be performed after Warm-up and Air Calibration.

If XRAY DLQC was not performed during the last 24 hours, the following
messages pops up whenever TE acquisition is initiated.

z Click [OK] to continue with the acquisition without DLQC,

OR
z click [Cancel] to cancel the acquisition and proceed to DLQC.

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

Operation

Once activated, the procedure guides the operator through the different stages
of the test, one after the other.

Positioning the Phantom

z Place the phantom holder on the stretcher (without the mattress) with
the small tips attached to the end of the stretcher (see Figure 15-2 on
page 15-9). The phantom is placed on the holder with the rectangular
support bracket inserted over the right-angled protrusion on the holder,
facing out of the Gantry and the small alignment line at the top (see
Figure 15-3 on page 15-10). Make sure that the phantom is not tilted
or skewed. After positioning the phantom on the holder, make sure that
the tips contact the edge of the holder.

Attach to end
of Stretcher

Figure 15-2 Phantom Holder

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

Alignment
Rectangular Circumferential
Support Bracket Top Alignment Line Line

To Gantry

Lateral
Alignment
Table Line

Figure 15-3 QC Phantom Placed on Stretcher for Imaging

(Rectangular Bracket Faces Out of Gantry)

z Fully retract the Stretcher so that there is nothing between the X-ray
Source and the Detector.

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

z Double click the XRAY DLQC Acquisition icon in the XRay Utilities
container (accessed from the Acquisition Station container).

Figure 15-4 X-ray Utilities Container

A pop-up is displayed:

z Press <Start> + Enable lever on the RCU, to start the X-ray warm-up
process.

z Immediately return to the operator console.

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

The X-Ray confirmation pop-up is displayed. (the pop-up will disappear

after two minutes).

z Click [OK] to start the warm-up.

The system will rotate for three revolutions with X-rays ON.
This takes about three minutes.

z After completion of the X-ray warm-up, the system starts the Air
Calibration Process.

The X-Ray confirmation pop-up is displayed.

z Click [OK] to start the air scan.

When the new Air table processing is complete, the following message
appears in the message window.

z After completion of the Air Calibration process, the table is

repositioned to start the Survey Acquisition.

When the Gantry has completed repositioning, the following pop-up

menu is displayed:

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

z Click [OK] to start the Survey scan.

When confirmed, a survey of 70 cm is started.

At the end of the acquisition, the survey image is displayed with a

rectangular ROI on top as shown in Figure 15-5 on page 15-14.

The following message appears at the bottom of the acquisition dialog:

Adjust ROI over the Phantom and press Continue

The phantom section acquired is the water section shown in

Figure 15-6 on page 15-15.

z Adjust the ROI over the phantom image, so that the ROI is positioned
exactly on the phantom edge that points toward the gantry, as shown
in Figure 15-5 on page 15-14.

Note Although the ROI size is 10 cm, only one slice is acquired in the water section
of the phantom during the XRAY Daily QC procedure.

Once ROI is adjusted, click [CONTINUE] on the Acquisition Window

Control Panel.

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

ROI positioned
exactly on the edge
of the phantom

Figure 15-5 Slice Selection on Survey Image

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

Section
Water

Section 1
Slice Alignment
Slice Thickness 30 mm 30 mm
Resolution
Section 2
Low Contrast Section 3
Resolution Water

Figure 15-6 Side View of QC Phantom

z At this stage the table is repositioned for the Water Phantom

Acquisition, and the Gantry starts rotating.

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

The following pop-up menu is displayed:

z Click [OK] to start the QC scan.

When the scan is completed (about 30 seconds), the water Slice

image will be reconstructed.

The following message appears on the message line at the bottom of

the screen.

z Record the study and group number of the acquisition for later use in
the analysis.

Analysis

z After the water slice scan is completed, double click on the X-ray DLQC
Processing button in the Xray Utilities container.
The HKNOISE dialog appears.

z In the IN field, type SxxGyy where xx is XRAY Daily QC Study number

(recorded above) and yy is the water slice group number.

z In the FRAME field type 1.

z Adjust the center ROI to the center of the water phantom and click [OK].

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

The water phantom slice image appears on the screen with 6 ROIs on
top of it. If more than one slice is acquired, the first slice is used for
processing. See Figure 15-7 on page 15-17.

Plastic Wall

Water

Figure 15-7 Water Phantom with Measuring ROI

The following message appears:

z Adjust the ROIs if necessary as per Figure 15-7. All ROIs should include
water only; otherwise the uniformity calculation will be unacceptable.
Click [CONTINUE] when ready.

The final report, which is saved in the archive, appears and includes:

 Slice Image with ROIs (see Figure 15-7 on page 15-17).

 Acquisition and Reconstruction Parameters (see Figure 15-8

on page 15-18)

 Results of Uniformity Calculations (Figure 15-9 on

page 15-18).

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XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

Figure 15-8 Acquisition and Reconstruction Parameter

Figure 15-9 Results of Uniformity Calculations

For each ROI the following results are calculated:

 Mean — Average of all pixel values (for water value should be

1000).

 SD — Standard Deviation, measure of variance of values of pixels

in the ROI.

 Uniformity — Difference between ROI average and average value

of the whole water slice (in large yellow ROI).

z If all results are within specified limits, the test passed.

If the test failed, perform Hawkeye Center of Rotation calibration as per

Chapter 16 – Maintenance and Setup.

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Quality Control Daily QC
XRAY Daily QC (XRAY DLQC)

Performing QC Separately

If the Air Calibration and warm up have been performed in the last few hours
and the QC image needs to be acquired, this can be done by selecting One
Slice for QC Acq from the Xray QC Container located in the Hawkeye Utilities
Container. The analysis of this scan is performed using the analysis procedure
described on page 15-16.

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Daily QC Quality Control
CoDe Daily QC

CoDe Daily QC

General

The main peak position, energy resolution and tomographic resolution of

Coincidence Imaging are the main parameters of the system. They are verified
during CoDe Daily QC. This procedure calculates the tomographic resolution,
measures the PHA of each Head, and builds a QC report.

Recommended Source

The recommended source to be used for CoDe Daily QC is Ge68 point source.

The point source may be ordered from North America Scientific Inc., CA, USA.
Fax 818-734-5212, Tel 800-992-6274, with the following specifications: Source
Ge68, S/N CAL 2600, activity 58 µCi, active diameter 1 mm, thickness 3 mm,
Acrylic Disk.

CoDe Daily QC Execution

1. Mount SEPTA Collimators.

2. Prepare a Daily QC point source using 511 Kev point/line source (Na22,
Ge68, F18, or FDG) with activity of 50 – 150 µCi (1.85 – 5.55 MBq) and
active dimensions of diameter <1.5 mm and length <5 cm.

The source of F18, FDG can be prepared using a syringe with a spinal
needle type 2. The FDG should fill the needle only. For this purpose, insert
the spinal needle with the syringe into the FDG bottle. Verify that the
needle is in the liquid. Extract a small volume of FDG. Remove the FDG
from the syringe (by pressing the syringe). A small quantity of FDG will
remain in the needle. Place the syringe within a medical glove to avoid
leakage.

3. Activate the CoDe Daily QC protocol from the CoDe Utilities container.

4. If a message appears to press the HOME key, then press the <HOME> key
on the RCU.

5. Place the Daily QC source on the table, as close as possible to the center
of the camera, and aligned with the rotation axis. Observe the image and if
needed, move the source so that it appears in the center of the FOV.

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CoDe Daily QC

6. Observe the PHA and verify that the peak center is within the range:
511±10 Kev. If the peak center is not within the energy range, perform
CoDe Weekly Calibration.

7. Start acquisition by pressing <START> on the RCU.

8. When acquisition is completed, click [OK] to start data processing.

9. The processing of the projections starts with reconstruction.

Center the RECONS ROI on the line source region and click [OK].

10. The CoDe Daily QC Report will be built as shown in Figure 15-10 on
page 15-22.

11. Verify that the results are within the following range:

CoDe1 (VG5) CoDe VC (VG8/VH)

System Parameter Acceptable Values Acceptable Value

CoDe Resolution ≤6.0 mm ≤7.0 mm

Peak position 511+ 10 Kev 511+ 10 Kev

Energy resolution (%) < 11.0% < 11.0%

CoDe Daily QC Report

The report includes the following:

z Reconstructed Image window – this leftmost window contains two

images:
 The reconstructed slice overlaid by a rectangular ROI and the
corresponding profile.
 Projection of the point source overlaid by a rectangular ROI
indicating the reconstruction limits.

z Histogram window - this center window contains a histogram which

corresponds to the profile shown within the reconstructed window. Two
markers indicate the FWHM location.

z CoDe QC Resol Window – this window shows the measured and

allowed tomographic resolution, in mm.

z Two PHA windows, one per Head.

z CoDe QC Results, which includes information on the peak position and

energy resolution.

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CoDe Daily QC

Figure 15-10 CoDe Daily QC Report

Note For Millenium VG/Discovery VH, the spectra (PHA) will start at ~285 keV.

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Quality Control Weekly QC Test
Basic Weekly Calibration

Weekly QC Test

There are two Weekly QC Procedures:

z Basic Weekly Calibration on page 15-23 – to be performed when the

results of Basic Daily QC procedure are outside specified limits.

z CoDe Weekly Calibration on page 15-26 – to be performed when the

results of the CoDe Daily QC procedures re outside specified limits.

Basic Weekly Calibration

Description

The Weekly QC is a crucial procedure which permits the user to obtain 100%
performance from the acquisition system. This procedure should be performed
weekly with an adequate source.

The Weekly QC provides a quality control test of the Imaging system including
radioactive (ITERative) calibration and consists of the following procedures
which are automatically executed:

1. Radioactive ITERative calibration.

2. PHA acquisition, energy peak position and energy resolution calculation.

3. STATIC acquisition of a flood image with energy, linearity and sensitivity

corrections applied.

4. Flood image uniformity calculation (in accordance with NEMA standards).

If the Frame Size is non-NEMA [256], the Daily QC routine applies the NEMA
standards.

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Weekly QC Test Quality Control
Basic Weekly Calibration

Weekly QC Execution

1. Prepare the source. The Count Rate should not exceed 20 Kc/s for either
Detector Head.

2. Perform the relevant section below for Flood or Point Source.

z For Flood Source Only

If using a Point Source, continue to the Point Source Section Below.

 If using a Flood Source (usually for Co57 or CoHE), position the

Detector Heads in H-mode. The procedure can be run for both head
consecutively.

 Use the RADIAL <IN> key to bring the Heads to the maximum
IN position.

 Place the Flood Source between the Heads with collimators

mounted (usually VPC 45 or VPC 35).

z For Point Source Only

 If using a Point Source (usually for Tc99m or TcHe), position the

Detector Heads in L-mode. The procedure must be run separately
for each Detector Head with the Decoy Collimator only.

 Use the LATERAL <OUT> key to maximize the distance between

the point source and the Detector Heads.

 Place the Point Source at a minimum distance of 2.5 meters from

the Detector Head.

3. From the Maintenance container, double-click the Weekly QC icon to

activate the procedure; the system displays a Dialog Notebook.

The first page titled WKQC PARAMETERS contains the settings of the
parameters used in the procedure.

4. From the drop down list, for the parameter Isotope, select the appropriate
isotope and click [OK].

Note Do not change the settings of the following check box parameters:
• STATIC Auto Start
• ITER Auto Start
• Show DATA
• Show REPORT

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Quality Control Weekly QC Test
Basic Weekly Calibration

During the test all functions are implemented automatically in the following
sequence:

z Iterative Radioactive Calibration of each Head.

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and Gaussian fit of PHA histogram for
Head 1.

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and Gaussian fit of PHA histogram for
Head 2.

z Flood STATIC (400 Mcounts) acquisition.

z Flood image integral uniformity calculation for both Heads.

z A Weekly QC Report is created and stored in the Archive in a Study

labeled Weekly QC.

Viewing Reports

1. From the Acquisition Station window click the Local Catalog button.

The Local catalog opens.

2. Highlight the study labeled ‘Weekly-QC’ by clicking on it.

3. Click the [SHOW REPORTS] button to open Weekly QC Report.

The Weekly QC report is identical to the Daily QC report. Refer to

Figure 15-10 on page 15-22. The Report contains input parameters, date,
test duration, energy peak position and energy resolution values of the
acquired isotopes and integral uniformity value of the flood image of both
Heads. It also displays PHA histograms from both Heads.

Basic Weekly QC Test Results Acceptability

System Parameter CoDe1 CoDe VC

Acceptable Value Acceptable Value

Peak position (keV) 99mTc (TC99/TCHE): 140 + 2 140 + 2

57Co (CO57/COHE): 122 + 3 122 + 3
Energy resolution (%) < 11.0 < 11.0
Integral uniformity (%)CFOV: < 5.0 < 5.0

If the Weekly QC test results are not within acceptable values, contact your
service representative.

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Weekly QC Test Quality Control
CoDe Weekly Calibration

CoDe Weekly Calibration

Description

The Weekly QC is a procedure which permits the user to obtain 100%

performance from the Millenium VG/Discovery VH system. This procedure
should be performed weekly with an adequate source.

The CoDe Weekly QC procedure must be followed by the CoDe Daily QC

procedure, in order to complete the test. In this case, the TcHE or CoHE flood
source must be used, followed by the CoDe Daily QC procedure with a 511 keV
source.

The CoDe Weekly QC provides a quality control test of the Imaging system
including radioactive (ITERative) calibration and consists of the following
procedures which are automatically executed:

1. Radioactive ITERative calibration.

2. PHA acquisition, energy peak position and energy resolution calculation.

CoDe Weekly QC Execution

1. Prepare the source (either 99mTc point source or 57Co flood source). The
Count Rate should not exceed 20 kc/s for either Detector Head.

2. Perform the relevant section below for Flood or Point Source.

z For Flood Source Only

If using a Point Source, continue to the Point Source Section Below.

 If using a Flood Source (usually for CoHE), position the Detector

Heads in H-mode. The procedure can be run for both head
consecutively.

 Use the RADIAL <IN> key to bring the Heads to the maximum
IN position.

 Place the Flood Source between the Heads with collimators

mounted.

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Quality Control Weekly QC Test
CoDe Weekly Calibration

z For Point Source Only:

 If using a Point Source (usually for TcHE), position the Detector

Heads in L-mode. The procedure must be run separately for
each Detector Head with the Decoy Collimator only.

 Use the LATERAL <OUT> key to maximize the distance between

the point source and the Detector Heads.

 Place the Point Source at a minimum distance of 2.5 meters from

the Detector Head.

3. Activate the CoDe Weekly QC protocol from the CoDe Utilities container;
the system displays a Dialog Notebook.

The first page titled CODEWKQC contains the settings of the parameters
used in the procedure.

4. From the drop down list, for the parameter Isotope, select the appropriate
isotope and click [OK].

Note Do not change the settings of the following check box parameters:
• ITER Auto Start
• Show DATA
• Show REPORT

During the test all functions are implemented automatically in the following
sequence:

z Iterative Radioactive Calibration of each Head.

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and Gaussian fit of PHA histogram

for Head 1.

z PHA acquisition 300 Kcounts and Gaussian fit of PHA histogram

for Head 2.

z A CoDe Weekly QC Report is created and stored in the Archive in a

Study labeled CoDe Weekly QC.

Viewing Reports

1. From the Acquisition Station window click the Local Catalog button.

The Local catalog opens.

2. Highlight the study labeled CoDe Weekly-QC by clicking on it.

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CoDe Weekly Calibration

3. Click the [SHOW REPORTS] button to open CoDe Weekly QC Report.

The Report contains input parameters, date, test duration, energy peak
position and energy resolution values of the acquired isotopes. It also
displays PHA histograms from both Heads.

CoDe Weekly QC Test Results Acceptability

System Parameter Acceptable Value

Peak position (keV) 99mTc (TCHE): 140 + 2 Kev

57
Co (COHE): 122 + 3 Kev
Energy resolution (%) < 11.0

Note The above acceptable results apply for both CoDe 1 and CoDe VC.

If the CoDe Weekly QC test results are not within acceptable values, contact
your service representative.

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Quality Control CoDe Loss Utility

CoDe Loss Utility

Overview

In Millenium VG/Discovery VH systems, the loss function provides information

on the emission count rate of PET acquisition. The function measures the single
rate, coincidence rate, coincidence events which were successfully transferred
to the acquisition station and the loss percentage for each head.
This function should be activated before each patient scan..

Note The operation instructions as well as the acceptable range of the absolute
loss value for CoDe VC differs from that of CoDe I.

Operation Instructions for Code VC Loss (for VG8/VH Systems)

1. Position the patient, and activate the LOSS function from the CoDe
Utilities container.
The program counts the singles count rate, coincidence rate, processed
events rate and loss, and displays the results.

2. When prompted, press the <Y> key, to perform another measurement, type
in the desired number of measurements to be performed and press
<Enter>.

The program performs the requested number of measurements and

displays the averaged results.

3. To terminate the LOSS function, press <n>.

The program calculates the average values of singles count rate and loss
for all the measurements in the current session.
Acceptable Values: Single Rate: 900 – 400 kc/s
Loss: –60% to 60%.

Note Do not start acquisition if the single rate is not within the above limits.
If it is too high, wait for 15 minutes and repeat the measurement procedure.
If it is too low, it is recommended to use a longer acquisition time. Refer to
Modifying Protocols & Creating New Protocols on page 5-13 for protocol
creation and saving.
For TE scans, the LOSS function should be performed before opening the
acquisition protocol.

4. To start a new session, repeat steps 2 - 3, above.

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CoDe Loss Utility Quality Control

Operation Instructions for CoDe 1 Loss (for VG5 Systems)

1. Position the patient, and activate the LOSS function from the CoDe
Utilities container.
The program counts the singles count rate, coincidence rate, processed
events rate and loss, and displays the results.

2. When prompted, press the <Y> key, to perform one more measurement.

The results of the new measurement are averaged with the previous
measurements. These average measurements are displayed in the OS/2
window.

Note It is recommended to perform between 5 to 10 measurements to reduce the

unavoidable statistical error.
The relative error is larger at low count rates.

3. To terminate the LOSS function, press <n>.

The program calculates the average values of singles count rate and loss
for all the measurements in the current session.
Acceptable Values: Detected Rate: 150 – 450 kc/s

Loss: < 20%

4. To start a new session, repeat steps 2 - 3, above.

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Quality Control CoDe Sensitivity QC

CoDe Sensitivity QC

The CoDe Sensitivity QC is a test for measuring the sensitivity of the system
for coincidence pairs during PET operation. It consists of a short PET acquisition
using a small 511 Kev source (F18, FDG) with known activity. After the
acquisition is complete the user enters parameters of activity and time and the
sensitivity is automatically calculated.

Indication

It is recommended to perform the CoDe Sensitivity QC once in two weeks.

CoDe Sensitivity QC Execution

1. Mount septa collimators.

2. Prepare a Vacuum bottle - 15-30 ml filled with F18 or FDG with activity
200 – 300 µCi (7.4 – 11.1 MBq).

3. Fill the remaining space in the bottle with water.

4. Measure the activity with a dose calibrator and record the time of
preparation.

5. Select Code Sensitivity QC from the CoDe Utilities container.

6. If a message appears to press the HOME key, then press the <HOME> key
on the RCU.

7. Place the source on the Patient Table between the heads (should be
placed in the center). Check positioning and PHA on the screen.

8. Start the acquisition and record the starting time.

9. After the acquisition is finished, a window appears requesting the entry of

parameters for sensitivity calculation.

10. Enter the activity measured after source preparation in units of micro-Curie
(must be an integer).

11. Click [OK].

12. Enter the time between source preparation and the beginning of the
acquisition (in minutes).

13. Click [OK].

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14. Enter the half life time of the source (110 min for F18, FDG).

15. Click [OK].

16. The calculated sensitivity appears.

The sensitivity should be more than:

For Code VC – 28 [Coincidence pairs / (second*µCi)]

For CoDe 1 – 14 [Coincidence pairs / (second*µCi)]

If the sensitivity is lower than the specified value, call your service office.

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