68Ga activity unit traceability to the Russian national primary radionuclide activity standard

Abstract

Russian hospitals widely use ⁶⁸Ga radionuclide for malignant tumors diagnostics. Therefore accurate ⁶⁸Ga activity measurements are important for optimizing patient’s dose load and providing the diagnostic procedure efficiency. In this paper we consider the moveable standard dosecalibtrator RIS-3A traceable by ⁶⁸Ga activity unit calibration. Two different traceability path implementations are considered: the direct comparison with the national primary radionuclide activity unit standard and calibration utilizing a gamma spectrometer and standard radioactive sources based on different beta-plus radionuclides. We present expanded uncertainty budgets for both calibration procedures, with direct usage of the national primary standard and via gamma spectrometer and ¹⁸F standard source. The ⁶⁸Ga activity measurements results convergence for both calibration procedures is demonstrated using calibrated standard dosecalibrator. The validity of both procedures is demonstrated. The presented results have practical value and can be used in future work for traceable calibration of instruments for other newly used in radiopharmaceuticals radionuclides.