Maricopa Community Colleges  NMT225   19906-20032 
Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 04/22/03
NMT225 19906-20032 L+L 4 Credit(s) 6 Period(s)
Nuclear Medicine Instrumentation and Statistics
Introduction of detection systems and counting statistics. Review of basic electronics including analog and digital circuits. Quality control techniques. Components of the Anger camera. Multicrystal camera and tomographic systems. Computers and related hardware. Prerequisites: NMT205 or permission of program director or department chair.
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MCCCD Official Course Competencies:
 
NMT225   19906-20032 Nuclear Medicine Instrumentation and Statistics
1. Explain the components and operation of gas-filled and scintillation detectors. (I)
2. Describe and solve problems including counting statistics to include Poisson and Gaussian distributions, counting reliability, Chi-square test, and resolving time. (II)
3. Explain basic analog circuits to include amplifiers, preamplifiers, principles of feedback, AC and DC power supplies, voltage and current regulation. (III)
4. Explain basic digital circuits to include pulses and circuit conventions, analog-digital conversion, digital-to-analog conversion, gates and switching logic, operational amplifiers, differential amplifiers, and display devices. (IV)
5. Demonstrate quality control for the operation of nuclear medicine imaging, non-imaging, and other specific instrumentation. (V)
6. Demonstrate the components and performance characteristics for Anger scintillation cameras. (VI)
7. Demonstrate the components and performance characteristics of the multicrystal scintillation camera. (VII)
8. Explain the operation, function, and quality control of tomographic systems. (VIII)
9. Describe the use of computers and computer hardware in nuclear medicine procedures. (IX)
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MCCCD Official Course Outline:
 
NMT225   19906-20032 Nuclear Medicine Instrumentation and Statistics
    I. Gas-filled and Scintillation Detectors
        A. Gas-filled detectors
          1. Operation
          2. Ion chambers
            a. Dose calibrations
            b. Pocket dosimeter
            c. Cutie-pie
          3. Proportional counters
          4. Geiger-Muller counter
          5. Survey meter
        B. Scintillation detectors
          1. Operation
          2. Components
            a. Crystal
            b. Photomultiplier tubes
            c. High-voltage power
            d. Amplification
            e. Pulse-height analyzer
          3. Liquid scintillation systems
            a. Operation
            b. Chemical
            c. Quench
            d. Use
      II. Counting Statistics
          A. Poisson and Gaussian distributions
          B. Counting reliability
          C. Chi-square test
          D. Resolving time
        III. Analog Circuits
            A. Amplifiers and preamplifiers
            B. Principles of feedback
            C. AC and DC power supplies
            D. Voltage and current regulations
          IV. Digital Circuits
              A. Pulses and circuit conventions
              B. Analog-to-digital conversion
              C. Digital-to-analog conversion
              D. Gates and switching logic
              E. Operational amplifiers
              F. Differential amplifiers
              G. Display devices
            V. Quality Control
                A. Non-imaging
                  1. Dose calibration
                  2. Linearity
                  3. Accuracy
                  4. Precision
                  5. Temperature and pressure corrections
                  6. Energy resolution
                  7. Daily calibration
                B. Imaging
                  1. Spatial resolution
                  2. Linearity
                  3. Uniformity
                  4. Energy resolution
                  5. Counting rate limitations
                  6. Measurement techniques
                  7. Frequency
                C. Other instrumentation
                  1. Computers
                  2. Photographic devices
              VI. Anger Scintillation Cameras
                  A. Historical development
                  B. System components
                    1. Collimator
                    2. Light pipe
                    3. Positioning circuitry
                    4. Ratio circuits
                    5. Summation circuits
                    6. Pulse-height analyzer
                    7. Scalers
                    8. Crystal
                    9. Photomultiplier tubes
                    10. Image display and recording
                  C. Multiformat imagers
                  D. Video formatters
                  E. Whole-body systems
                  F. Performance characteristics
                    1. Collimator
                    2. Spatial resolution
                    3. Sensitivity
                    4. Linearity
                    5. Uniformity
                    6. Energy resolution
                    7. Counting rate limitations
                    8. Count density
                    9. Image contrast
                VII. Multicrystal Scintillation Cameras
                    A. Historical development
                    B. System components
                      1. NAI crystal matrix
                      2. Rank & file PMT positioning circuit
                      3. Light pipes
                      4. Collimators
                      5. Data processing
                      6. Display systems
                    C. Performance characteristics
                      1. Spatial resolution
                      2. Sensitivity
                      3. Uniformity
                      4. Energy calibration
                      5. Counting rate
                  VIII. Tomographic Systems
                      A. Types
                      B. Basic principles
                      C. Performance characteristics
                      D. Quality control
                    IX. Computers and Related Hardware
                        A. Types of computers
                        B. Computer hardware
                          1. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
                          2. Memory
                          3. Input/output devices
                        C. Nuclear medicine computer system
                          1. Gamma camera/computer interface
                          2. Acquisition modes
                          3. Memory
                          4. Display systems
                        D. Data processing programs
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