Preparation of 57Co point sources for the performance evaluation of nuclear imaging instruments

• Preparation of sealed 57Co point sources.
• Electrodeposition of predicted quantity of 57Co onto a copper substrate.
• Encapsulation of 57Co sources in titanium capsules.
• Quality evaluation of the sealed sources.

This paper describes the utility of electrodeposition method to prepare 57Co point sources. A description of the electrolytic cell, the process of 57Co electrodeposition, encapsulation and quality control of the sealed 57Co sources is presented. Sources containing ∼3.7–4.81 MBq (0.10–0.13 mCi) of 57Co were prepared, encapsulated in miniature titanium capsules and subjected to quality control tests to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The encapsulated 57Co sources prepared by the reported procedure were found to be effective in routine performance evaluation of nuclear medicine instruments.