title: Guidance for Efficient Small Animal Imaging Quality Control.
abstract: Routine quality control is a critical aspect of properly maintaining high-performance small animal imaging instrumentation. A robust quality control program helps produce more reliable data both for academic purposes and as proof of system performance for contract imaging work. For preclinical imaging laboratories, the combination of costs and available resources often limits their ability to produce efficient and effective quality control programs. This work presents a series of simplified quality control procedures that are accessible to a wide range of preclinical imaging laboratories. Our intent is to provide minimum guidelines for routine quality control that can assist preclinical imaging specialists in setting up an appropriate quality control program for their facility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, 1924 Alcoa Highway, Knoxville, TN, 37920, USA. dosborne@utmck.edu.
authors.forename: Dustin R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Osborne
authors.affiliation: Health & Environment Department, Biomedical Systems, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Seibersdorf, Austria.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuntner
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia School of Medicine, Radiology, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berr
authors.affiliation: Regis College, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stout
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000592:standards*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D011786:Quality Control
keywords: MicroCT; MicroPET; MicroSPECT; Optical; Quality control; Small animal MRI; Small animal imaging