Exposure radiation in nuclear medicine department

Document Type : Conference Paper

Authors

1 School of Medicine, Abadan University of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Khuzestan, Iran

2 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Abadan, Khuzestan, Iran

Abstract

Nuclear medicine personnel are exposed to radiation during radiopharmaceutical preparation, injection, and imaging. One of the most widely used devices in nuclear medicine is the Single Photon Computed Tomography (SPECT). Injectable radioisotopes in the field of nuclear medicine emit gamma rays, and because gamma rays fall into the category of ionizing radiation, they can break chemical bonds in contact with tissue and cause adverse reactions. The Linear No Threshold model (LNT) considers exposure to any amount of radiation to increase the risk of cancer, and the International Committee for Radiation Protection (ICRP) has set a dose limit for the general public and occupation. So, in this study, we decided to estimate the received dose by personnel and attendant people with environmental and individual monitoring. For two months' environmental rate dose by using Geiger Muller dosimeter, in four nuclear medicine departments, effective dose of personnel by using film badge dosimeter and hand received dose of personnel in contact with radiopharmaceuticals by using finger dosimeter, was monitored.
 
The obtained rate dose was comparable to background radiation, and being in such a place would not be dangerous for companions and personnel. The absorbed dose of the whole body and hands of the employees was much lower than the declared limit. However, according to the ALARA principle recommendation, it is recommended to observe the protection principles and in addition to the film badge, a finger dosimeter should be used to monitor personnel.

Keywords

References

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