Abstract
We conducted an evaluation of the intercamera (i.e., between cameras) variability in clinically relevant performance characteristics for Symbia gamma cameras (Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, PA) based on measurements made using nine separate systems. The significance of the observed intercamera variability was determined by comparing it to the intracamera (i.e., within a single camera) variability. Measurements of performance characteristics were based on the standards of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and reports 6, 9, 22, and 52 from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. All measurements were performed using T99mc (except C57o used for extrinsic resolution) and low‐energy, high‐resolution collimation. Of the nine cameras, four have crystals 3/8 in. thick and five have crystals 5/8 in. thick. We evaluated intrinsic energy resolution, intrinsic and extrinsic spatial resolution, intrinsic integral and differential flood uniformity over the useful field‐of‐view, count rate at 20% count loss, planar sensitivity, single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) resolution, and SPECT integral uniformity. The intracamera variability was estimated by repeated measurements of the performance characteristics on a single system. The significance of the observed intercamera variability was evaluated using the two‐tailed F distribution. The planar sensitivity of the gamma cameras tested was found be variable at the 99.8% confidence level for both the 3/8‐in. and 5/8‐in. crystal systems. The integral uniformity and energy resolution were found to be variable only for the 5/8‐in. crystal systems at the 98% and 90% confidence level, respectively. All other performance characteristics tested exhibited no significant variability between camera systems. The measured variability reported here could perhaps be used to define nominal performance values of Symbia gamma cameras for planar and SPECT imaging.PACS numbers: 87.62.+n, 87.58.Pm, 87.58.Ce
Highlights
Medicine (AAPM) alleviate some of these difficulties by providing methods and protocols for planar and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) evaluation of gamma cameras that are both practical and time-efficient.[2,3,4,5] procedural differences between the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the AAPM tests undermine a direct comparison between the results using the AAPM reports and the system performance specifications claimed by the manufacturer
The present report gives the results of an evaluation of the intercamera variability of nine clinically relevant performance characteristics of Symbia gamma cameras (Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, PA) for both planar and SPECT imaging
The spatial resolution tests for planar intrinsic, planar extrinsic, and SPECT had the lowest coefficient of variability (CV), indicative of low intercamera variability between cameras with the same crystal thickness
Summary
Medicine (AAPM) alleviate some of these difficulties by providing methods and protocols for planar and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) evaluation of gamma cameras that are both practical and time-efficient.[2,3,4,5] procedural differences between the NEMA and the AAPM tests undermine a direct comparison between the results using the AAPM reports and the system performance specifications claimed by the manufacturer. No published documents incorporate nominal values for the various planar acceptance tests based on the procedures described in the AAPM reports. The present report gives the results of an evaluation of the intercamera (i.e., between cameras) variability of nine clinically relevant performance characteristics of Symbia gamma cameras (Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, PA) for both planar and SPECT imaging. The test procedures for measurement of the performance characteristics reported here were based on those defined by the NEMA standards and the AAPM reports
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