Characterization of an itinerant NaI(Tl) spectrometric system for calibrating activimeters

In radiopharmaceutical production centres and nuclear medicine services, the use of short-lived radionuclides as radiotracers is essential, with applications seeing significant growth and attracting the interest of national metrology laboratories. These laboratories are responsible for ensuring the traceability of radioactive standards, which is crucial for the precise determination of the activity of administered radiopharmaceuticals. However, the short half-life of radionuclides complicates direct traceability for nuclear medicine services (NMS). To overcome this limitation, the National Laboratory for Ionizing Radiation Metrology (LNMRI) is developing a mobile system based on an NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. This study aims to present the schematic arrangement of the proposed system for calibrating dose calibrators, as well as to conduct characterization tests of its main parameters and determine calibration factors for specific radionuclides. This development seeks to ensure traceability for key radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine services, providing greater accuracy and reliability in diagnosis and treatment.