The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) has developed a qualification procedure for PET scanners to check basic system calibrations and to verify that clinical image quality is adequate for semiquantitative analysis of PET data.
Lead program author Joshua Scheuermann, clinical physicist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said the goal of the PET qualification program is to ensure reliable quantitative and qualitative data across all of the centers participating in PET clinical research.
In a recent survey of 101 scanner applications, 12% failed because of incorrect standardized uptake value (SUV) or normalization calibrations. ACRIN's PETCore Laboratory shows that many sites are unable to maintain accurate SUV calibrations without additional training or supervision.
The emerging role of PET imaging end points as in vivo biomarkers requires that imaging studies produce reliable quantitative, semiquantitative, and qualitative results that can be used to assess disease status, said Dr. Barry Siegel, deputy co-chair and medical director of ACRIN's PETCore Laboratory.
Details are published online in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine (Vol. 50:7, June 12).
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