Methodology for correcting the nonlinear response of radionuclide calibrators

Due to constructive and operational issues, the response of a radionuclide calibrator used in Nuclear Medicine can behave in a non-linear manner, especially in the transition of scales. Although the deviations from linearity are small, they may be important for standard secondary or reference radionuclide calibrators used in calibration laboratories. In the document TRS 454 - IAEA it is proposed that the deviation from linearity for these instruments should be in the range of ± 2%. However, calibration laboratories may have some difficulty meeting the requirement. This article proposes an easy-to-implement methodology to correct the response of reference radionuclide calibrators from calibration laboratories, in order to meet the requirement of ± 2% for the linearity parameter recommended by the IAEA.

An international multi-center investigation on the accuracy of radionuclide calibrators in nuclear medicine theragnostics

Background Personalized molecular radiotherapy based on theragnostics requires accurate quantification of the amount of radiopharmaceutical activity administered to patients both in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This international multi-center study aims to investigate the clinical measurement accuracy of radionuclide calibrators for 7 radionuclides used in theragnostics: 99mTc, 111In, 123I, 124I, 131I, 177Lu, and 90Y. Methods In total, 32 radionuclide calibrators from 8 hospitals located in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany were tested. For each radionuclide, a set of four samples comprising two clinical containers (10-mL glass vial and 3-mL syringe) with two filling volumes were measured. The reference value of each sample was determined by two certified radioactivity calibration centers (SCK CEN and JRC) using two secondary standard ionization chambers. The deviation in measured activity with respect to the reference value was determined for each radionuclide and each measurement geometry. In addition, the combined systematic deviation of activity measurements in a theragnostic setting was evaluated for 5 clinically relevant theragnostic pairs: 131I/123I, 131I/124I, 177Lu/111In, 90Y/99mTc, and 90Y/111In. Results For 99mTc, 131I, and 177Lu, a small minority of measurements were not within ± 5% range from the reference activity (percentage of measurements not within range: 99mTc, 6%; 131I, 14%; 177Lu, 24%) and almost none were outside ± 10% range. However, for 111In, 123I, 124I, and 90Y, more than half of all measurements were not accurate within ± 5% range (111In, 51%; 123I, 83%; 124I, 63%; 90Y, 61%) and not all were within ± 10% margin (111In, 22%; 123I, 35%; 124I, 15%; 90Y, 25%). A large variability in measurement accuracy was observed between radionuclide calibrator systems, type of sample container (vial vs syringe), and source-geometry calibration/correction settings used. Consequently, we observed large combined deviations (percentage deviation > ± 10%) for the investigated theragnostic pairs, in particular for 90Y/111In, 131I/123I, and 90Y/99mTc. Conclusions Our study shows that substantial over- or underestimation of therapeutic patient doses is likely to occur in a theragnostic setting due to errors in the assessment of radioactivity with radionuclide calibrators. These findings underline the importance of thorough validation of radionuclide calibrator systems for each clinically relevant radionuclide and sample geometry.

An international multi-center investigation on the accuracy of radionuclide calibrators in nuclear medicine theranostics

Background: Personalized molecular radiotherapy based on theragnostics requires accurate quantification of the amount of radiopharmaceutical activity administered to patients both in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This international multi-center study aims to investigate the clinical measurement accuracy of radionuclide calibrators for 7 radionuclides used in theragnostics: 99mTc, 111In, 123I, 124I, 131I, 177Lu and 90Y.Methods: In total, 32 radionuclide calibrators from 8 hospitals located in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany were tested. For each radionuclide, a set of four samples comprising two clinical containers (10-mL glass vial and 3-mL syringe) with two filling volumes were measured. The reference value of each sample was determined by two certified radioactivity calibration centers (SCK CEN and JRC) using two secondary standard ionization chambers. The deviation in measured activity with respect to the reference value was determined for each radionuclide and each measurement geometry. In addition, the combined systematic deviation of activity measurements in a theragnostic setting was evaluated for 5 clinically-relevant theragnostic pairs: 131I/123I, 131I/124I, 177Lu/111In, 90Y/99mTc and 90Y/111In.Results: For 99mTc, 131I, and 177Lu, a small minority of measurements were not within ±5% range from the reference activity (percentage of measurements not within range: 99mTc: 6%, 131I: 14%, 177Lu: 24%) and almost none were outside ±10% range. However, for 111In, 123I, 124I and 90Y more than half of all measurements were not accurate within ±5% range (111In: 51%, 123I: 83%, 124I: 63%, 90Y: 61%) and not all were within ±10% margin (111In: 22%, 123I: 35%, 124I: 15%, 90Y: 25%). A large variability in measurement accuracy was observed between radionuclide calibrator systems, type of sample container (vial vs syringe), and source-geometry calibration/correction settings used. Consequently, we observed large combined deviations (percentage deviation > ±10%) for the investigated theragnostic pairs, in particular for 90Y/111In, 131I/123I and 90Y/99mTc.Conclusions: Our study shows that substantial over- or under-estimation of therapeutic patient doses are likely to occur in a theragnostic setting due to errors in the assessment of radioactivity with radionuclide calibrators. These findings underline the importance of thorough validation of radionuclide calibrator systems for each clinically-relevant radionuclide and sample geometry.

An international multi-center investigation on the accuracy of radionuclide calibrators in nuclear medicine theranostics

Background: Personalized molecular radiotherapy based on theranostics requires accurate quantification of the amount of radiopharmaceutical activity administered to patients both in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This international multi-center study aims to investigate the clinical measurement accuracy of radionuclide calibrators for 7 radionuclides used in theranostics: 99mTc, 111In, 123I, 124I, 131I, 177Lu and 90Y.Methods: In total, 32 radionuclide calibrators from 8 hospitals located in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany were tested. For each radionuclide, a set of four samples comprising two clinical containers (10-mL glass vial and 3-mL syringe) with two filling volumes were measured. The reference value of each sample was determined by two certified radioactivity calibration centers (SCK CEN and JRC) using two secondary standard ionization chambers. The deviation in measured activity with respect to the reference value was determined for each radionuclide and each measurement geometry. In addition, the combined systematic deviation of activity measurements in a theranostic setting was evaluated for 5 clinically-relevant theranostic pairs: 131I/123I, 131I/124I, 177Lu/111In, 90Y/99mTc and 90Y/111In.Results: For 99mTc, 131I, and 177Lu, a small minority of measurements were not within ±5% range from the reference activity (percentage of measurements not within range: 99mTc: 6%, 131I: 14%, 177Lu: 24%) and almost none were outside ±10% range. However, for 111In, 123I, 124I and 90Y more than half of all measurements were not accurate within ±5% range (111In: 51%, 123I: 83%, 124I: 63%, 90Y: 61%) and not all were within ±10% margin (111In: 22%, 123I: 35%, 124I: 15%, 90Y: 25%). A large variability in measurement accuracy was observed between radionuclide calibrator systems, type of sample container (vial vs syringe), and source-geometry calibration/correction settings used. Consequently, we observed large combined deviations (percentage deviation > ±10%) for the investigated theranostic pairs, in particular for 90Y/111In, 131I/123I and 90Y/99mTc.Conclusions: Our study shows that substantial over- or under-estimation of therapeutic patient doses are likely to occur in a theranostic setting due to errors in the assessment of radioactivity with radionuclide calibrators. These findings underline the importance of thorough validation of radionuclide calibrator systems for each clinically-relevant radionuclide and sample geometry.