Assessment of an in-house phantom for the quality control of a clinical gamma camera.

OBJECTIVE: Since in-house phantoms may provide effective quality control for gamma cameras in clinical settings, this study aims to assess an in-house phantom designed to perform quality control tests of a gamma camera using locally available, affordable materials. This is of particular importance in developing countries where scientific support may not be readily available. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The phantom was made from cylindrical plexiglass with a diameter of 230 mm and thickness of 60 mm. The phantom design was based on NEMA recommendations and only used materials that are locally available and generally accessible to most nuclear medicine departments and require minimal engineering instruction. RESULTS: The phantom demonstrated high levels of reliability and accuracy. The integral uniformity range was between 1.93% and 2.40%. The differential uniformity ranged between 1.48% and 1.70%. CONCLUSION: This work demonstrates that in-house phantoms are capable of monitoring gamma camera performance. This approach is particularly useful when scientific support is not easily accessible and when commercial phantoms are not readily available.