IEC TR 61948-3:2005

TECHNICAL IEC
REPORT TR
61948-3
First edition
2005-07
Nuclear medicine instrumentation –
Routine tests –
Part 3:
Positron emission tomographs
Reference number
IEC/TR 61948-3:2005(E)
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TECHNICAL IEC
REPORT TR 61948-3
First edition
2005-07
Nuclear medicine instrumentation –
Routine tests –
Part 3:
Positron emission tomographs
 IEC 2005  Copyright - all rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
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For price, see current catalogue

– 2 – TR 61948-3  IEC:2005(E)

CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3

INTRODUCTION.5

1 Scope and object.6

2 Normative references .6

3 Terms and definitions .6

4 Test methods .9
4.1 CALIBRATION FACTOR and cross-calibration .9
4.2 RELATIVE SENSITIVITY PER LINE OF RESPONSE and goodness of NORMALIZATION.10
4.3 TRANSVERSE RESOLUTION .10
4.4 PIXEL size.10
4.5 Mechanical parts .10
4.6 Viewing and documentation system.10
5 Frequency of ROUTINE TESTS .10

Bibliography.12
Index of defined terms .13

Table 1 – Frequency of ROUTINE TESTS.11

TR 61948-3  IEC:2005(E) – 3 –

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

____________
NUCLEAR MEDICINE INSTRUMENTATION –

ROUTINE TESTS –
Part 3: Positron emission tomographs

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
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with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
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between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
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5) IEC provides no marking procedure to indicate its approval and cannot be rendered responsible for any
equipment declared to be in conformity with an IEC Publication.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. However, a
technical committee may propose the publication of a technical report when it has collected
data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard, for
example "state of the art".
IEC 61948-3, which is a technical report, has been prepared by subcommittee 62C:
Equipment for radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry, of IEC technical
committee 62: Electrical equipment in medical practice.
The text of this technical report is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
62C/376/DTR 62C/383/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical report can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.

– 4 – TR 61948-3  IEC:2005(E)

This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

In this technical report the following print types are used:

• requirements, compliance with which can be tested, and definitions: in roman type;

• explanation, advice, introductions, general statements, exceptions and reference: in smaller roman type;

• test specifications: in italic type;

• TERMS DEFINED IN CLAUSE 3 OF THIS TECHNICAL REPORT OR LISTED IN THE INDEX OF DEFINED

TERMS: SMALL CAPITALS.
IEC 61948 consists of the following parts, under the general title Nuclear medicine

instrumentation – Routine tests:
Part 1: Radiation counting systems
Part 2: Scintillation cameras and single photon emission computed tomography imaging
Part 3: Positron emission tomographs
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the maintenance result date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in
the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed;
• withdrawn;
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

TR 61948-3  IEC:2005(E) – 5 –

INTRODUCTION
This technical report is based on the German Standard DIN 6855-4 "Qualitätsprüfung

nuklearmedizinischer Messsysteme – Teil 4: Konstanzprüfung von Positronen-Emissions-

Tomographen (PET)".
– 6 – TR 61948-3  IEC:2005(E)

NUCLEAR MEDICINE INSTRUMENTATION –

ROUTINE TESTS –
Part 3: Positron emission tomographs

1 Scope and object
This technical report is valid for POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHS utilizing stationary or moving
detectors in a circular arrangement. It is not valid for SPECT-systems operated in coincidence
mode. In the framework of QUALITY CONTROL, this technical report describes test methods
suitable for the purpose of routine testing. Methods used for acceptance testing are described
in IEC 61675-1:1998.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 61675-1:1998, Radionuclide imaging devices – Characteristics and test conditions –
Part 1: Positron emission tomographs
IEC 61948-2:2001, Nuclear medicine instrumentation – Routine tests – Part 2: Scintillation
cameras and single photon emission computed tomography imaging
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
NOTE A certain number of terms used in this document have been drawn from IEC 60788, IEC 61675-1 and IEC 61948-1
(see Index of defined terms).
3.1
quality control
part of the quality assurance in nuclear medicine including tests of instruments with
appropriate test methods
NOTE Includes both acceptance test and routine test.

[IEC 61948-1:2001, definition 3.1]
3.2
acceptance test
test carried out at the request and with the participation of the user or his representative to
ascertain by determination of proper performance parameters that the instrument meets the
specifications claimed by the vendor
[IEC TR 61948-1:2001, definition 3.2.1]
NOTE An ACCEPTANCE TEST should be carried out at the time of installation and when appropriate after major
service. During or immediately after ACCEPTANCE TEST, REFERENCE DATA are collected to be used as a standard for
comparison with future ROUTINE TESTS.

TR 61948-3  IEC:2005(E) – 7 –

3.3
routine test
test of a piece of equipment or its components, which is repeated at specified intervals, to

establish and document changes from the initial status described by REFERENCE DATA

NOTE A ROUTINE TEST could be carried out by the user with simple test methods and equipment.

[IEC TR 61948-1:2001, definition 3.2.2]

3.4
reference data
a set of data measured immediately after acceptance testing, using test methods designed for

routine testing
[IEC TR 61948-1:2001, definition 3.2.3]
3.5
positron emission tomograph
tomographic device which detects the ANNIHILATION RADIATION of positron emitting
RADIONUCLIDES by COINCIDENCE DETECTION
[IEC 61675-1:1998, definition 2.1.3.1]
3.6
annihilation radiation
ionizing radiation that is produced when a particle and its antiparticle interact and cease to
exist
[IEC 61675-1:1998, definition 2.1.3.2]
3.7
projection beam
determines the smallest possible volume in which the physical property which determines the
image is integrated during the measurement process. Its shape is limited by SPATIAL
RESOLUTION in all three dimensions
NOTE The PROJECTION BEAM mostly has the shape of a long thin cylinder or cone. In positron emission
tomography, it is the sensitive volume between two detector elements operated in coincidence.
[IEC 61675-1:1998, definition 2.1.2.2]
3.8
line of response
LOR
the axis of the PROJECTION BEAM
NOTE In PET, it is the line connecting the centres of two opposing detector elements operated in coincidence.
[IEC 61675-1:1998, definition 2.1.3.5]
3.9
relative sensitivity per line of response
ratio of the COUNT RATE of TRUE COINCIDENCES, measured for
...