ABR Nuclear Radiology study plan

Derive and apply decay, activity, and half-life relationships to calculate residual activity, daughter ingrowth, and specific activity for Tc-99m, F-18, Ga-68, Lu-177, and I-131.

Trace the scintillation detection signal chain from crystal through light guide, photomultiplier, preamplifier, and pulse-height analyzer, and predict how each stage changes energy resolution and count-rate linearity.

Compare NaI(Tl), CZT, and PET detector designs on stopping power, energy resolution, timing resolution, and dead-time behavior, and select the best detector for a stated clinical task.

Compute spatial resolution and sensitivity tradeoffs across parallel-hole, pinhole, converging, and diverging collimator geometries, and predict image appearance when septal thickness or hole length changes.

Distinguish photopeak, Compton, and backscatter events and explain how energy window width and scatter correction alter contrast and quantification.

Perform and interpret daily and quarterly camera QC calculations, including intrinsic and extrinsic uniformity, spatial resolution, energy peaking, and center of rotation, and state the corrective action for each failure pattern.

Explain cyclotron production routes and generator elution chemistry for Tc-99m, Ga-68, and Rb-82, and predict eluate purity problems from parent breakthrough, alumina leakage, or elution timing errors.

Map biodistribution and clearance mechanisms, including renal tubular secretion, hepatobiliary excretion, receptor-mediated uptake, and bone chemisorption, to expected normal scan appearance and timing.

Describe radiopharmaceutical preparation controls, including radionuclidic purity, radiochemical purity testing methods, sterility, and endotoxin limits, and identify when a batch must be rejected.

Calculate absorbed organ dose and effective dose using the MIRD schema with residence times and S values, and compare dose estimates across competing diagnostic agents.

Apply 10 CFR 35 requirements to written directives, possession and use limits, training and signature authority, and required records, and identify the violation in a short scenario.

Compute patient release criteria from exposure rate and retained activity, and apply decision rules for pregnancy, breastfeeding interruption, and household contact restrictions.

Adjust administered activity for renal impairment, hepatic impairment, obesity, and pediatric patients using weight- or surface-area-based scaling, and justify each adjustment.

Perform contamination survey math, including wipe-test efficiency correction, spill activity estimation, and decontamination endpoints, and sequence the response to a major versus minor spill.

Compare PET/CT and SPECT/CT acquisition and reconstruction choices, including time-of-flight, point-spread-function modeling, ordered-subset parameters, and CT technique for attenuation correction.

Diagnose attenuation-correction artifacts caused by oral or intravenous contrast, metallic hardware, patient motion, and CT-to-emission misregistration, and state the correction for each.

Apply Deauville and Lugano criteria to staging and restaging FDG PET/CT cases, and distinguish complete metabolic response from residual inflammatory uptake.

Differentiate physiologic from malignant uptake in brain, head and neck, thorax, abdomen, and pelvis on FDG PET/CT, and justify each call with anatomic or metabolic reasoning.

Select the appropriate oncologic tracer, including FDG, Ga-68 DOTATATE, PSMA-targeted agents, and F-18 NaF, for stated tumor types and clinical questions.

Quantify and interpret response using PERCIST-style SUV normalization and SUL peak measurement, and reconcile discordant PET and CT findings.

Evaluate incidental PET/CT findings such as thyroid, adrenal, and colonic uptake, and recommend a proportionate diagnostic next step.

Construct a structured PET/CT report that separates findings, impression, staging, and response category.

Interpret rest and stress perfusion patterns to separate reversible ischemia, fixed infarction, and balanced multivessel disease, and identify when quantification is required.

Recognize and correct common artifacts, including diaphragmatic and breast attenuation, patient motion, subdiaphragmatic bowel activity, left bundle branch block, and vasodilator side effects.

Compare myocardial blood flow and coronary flow reserve measurement by PET with relative perfusion scoring, and state the clinical settings where absolute flow changes management.

Select among FDG, Tl-201, and Tc-99m perfusion agents for viability assessment, and explain the metabolic and membrane mechanisms underlying each pattern.

Apply appropriate use criteria to choose stress testing modality for preoperative risk assessment, known coronary disease, and new-onset heart failure.

Interpret thyroid and parathyroid scintigraphy, hepatobiliary imaging, gastrointestinal bleeding and Meckel studies, ventilation-perfusion lung scanning, and renal cortical and dynamic renography, and state the expected finding for each classic presentation.

Calculate split renal function and camera-based glomerular filtration rate from dynamic renography, and identify technical factors that invalidate the result.

Differentiate osteomyelitis from cellulitis, Charcot arthropathy, and prosthetic joint infection using three-phase bone scan, labeled leukocyte imaging, and FDG PET, and select the best test for each scenario.

Choose among Ga-67, labeled leukocyte, and FDG PET imaging for fever of unknown origin, sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and inflammatory bowel disease, and justify the choice by mechanism and biodistribution.

Interpret dopamine transporter, brain perfusion, and FDG brain patterns to distinguish neurodegenerative dementias, movement disorders, and seizure foci from normal variant uptake.

Design a treatment and monitoring plan for I-131, Lu-177 DOTATATE, Ra-223, and Y-90 microsphere therapy, including activity selection, dosimetry method, and toxicity surveillance intervals.

Apply radiation safety requirements specific to therapy patients, including inpatient versus outpatient release, room and linen surveys, effluent handling, and written family instructions.

Integrate high-yield concepts across all eight domains into a single rapid-review framework, and convert weak mock-exam topics into a dated remediation list.