TY - JOUR
T1 - Quality control in PET/CT and PET/MRI
T2 - Results of a survey amongst European countries
AU - Reynés-Llompart, Gabriel
AU - Zorz, Alessandra
AU - Boellaard, Ronald
AU - Ptáček, Jaroslav
AU - Pike, Lucy
AU - Soret, Marine
AU - Vandenberghe, Stefaan
AU - Matheoud, Roberta
N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank all the medical physicists who answered the survey as well as the observers and consultants of the EFOMP working group. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica e Sanitaria
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - Purpose: An EFOMP Working Group (WG) was created in 2020 to establish recommendations for PET/CT/MRI Quality Control (QC). The WG's intention was to create a document containing a set of measurements suitable for routine practice. In order to map the current situation in PET facilities, the WG prepared a survey addressed to European Medical Physics Experts (MPE). Methods: The survey was conducted using an electronic questionnaire with 10 sections, for a total of 43 multiple choice or open questions. Data regarding general information, model of installed scanners, contract of maintenance and phantoms available were collected. The focal part of the questionnaire concerned the QC protocol adopted and accreditation programs. Results: 123 answers from 24 countries were collected. 90.2% of the respondents are affiliated as staff MPEs; 45% have non-digital TOF PET/CT scanners with a contract of maintenance (97.6%). In 98.4% and 86.8% of responding centres a sealed source for daily QC and the NEMA Image Quality Phantom were present. 94.3% of respondents perform daily QC according to manufacturer recommendations, while NEMA Tests are not performed routinely (51.2%). 56.1% of the respondents have scanners accredited by a national or international organization. 56% of the centres perform annual CT tests, while more than 90% do not perform any MRI QCs. Conclusions: The results of the survey show that there is a lack of harmonization in the PET QC procedures across Europe. The information obtained will guide the WG in proposing a guideline containing a set of measurements suitable for the clinical routine.
AB - Purpose: An EFOMP Working Group (WG) was created in 2020 to establish recommendations for PET/CT/MRI Quality Control (QC). The WG's intention was to create a document containing a set of measurements suitable for routine practice. In order to map the current situation in PET facilities, the WG prepared a survey addressed to European Medical Physics Experts (MPE). Methods: The survey was conducted using an electronic questionnaire with 10 sections, for a total of 43 multiple choice or open questions. Data regarding general information, model of installed scanners, contract of maintenance and phantoms available were collected. The focal part of the questionnaire concerned the QC protocol adopted and accreditation programs. Results: 123 answers from 24 countries were collected. 90.2% of the respondents are affiliated as staff MPEs; 45% have non-digital TOF PET/CT scanners with a contract of maintenance (97.6%). In 98.4% and 86.8% of responding centres a sealed source for daily QC and the NEMA Image Quality Phantom were present. 94.3% of respondents perform daily QC according to manufacturer recommendations, while NEMA Tests are not performed routinely (51.2%). 56.1% of the respondents have scanners accredited by a national or international organization. 56% of the centres perform annual CT tests, while more than 90% do not perform any MRI QCs. Conclusions: The results of the survey show that there is a lack of harmonization in the PET QC procedures across Europe. The information obtained will guide the WG in proposing a guideline containing a set of measurements suitable for the clinical routine.
KW - Positron Emission Tomography
KW - Quality control
KW - Survey
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130810883&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2022.05.004
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2022.05.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 35598481
SN - 1120-1797
VL - 99
SP - 16
EP - 21
JO - Physica medica
JF - Physica medica
ER -