Development of a phantom and assessment of 141Ce as a surrogate radionuclide for flood field uniformity testing of gamma cameras

• Development of indigenous phantom was carried out for quality assurance of gamma cameras
• 141Ce is produced in nuclear reactors by 140Ce (n,γ)141Ce reaction
• Integral uniformity values obtained with 141Ce are comparable with traditionally used 99mTc or 57Co phantoms

This paper describes an indigenous method for development and deployment of rechargeable liquid filled phantom with newly proposed radionuclide 141Ce for determination of extrinsic uniformity of gamma cameras. Details about design of phantom, neutron irradiation of cerium targets, chemical processing of 141Ce, charging of phantom with 141Ce solution and their performance evaluation are presented. Suitability of 141Ce in quality assurance of gamma cameras used in in-vivo diagnostic imaging procedures has been amply demonstrated.