For dead time determination for a gamma camera (18) or other detector, a long-lived point source (26) of emissions is positioned so that the gamma camera (18) detects (34) the emissions from the source (26) while also being used to detect (36) emissions from the patient (22). The long-lived point source (26), in the scan time, acts as a fixed frequency source (26) of emissions, allowing for dead time correction measurements that include the crystal detector effects.