title: Extremity exposure in nuclear medicine: preliminary results of a European study.
abstract: The Work Package 4 of the ORAMED project, a collaborative project (2008-11) supported by the European Commission within its seventh Framework Programme, is concerned with the optimisation of the extremity dosimetry of medical staff in nuclear medicine. To evaluate the extremity doses and dose distributions across the hands of medical staff working in nuclear medicine departments, an extensive measurement programme has been started in 32 nuclear medicine departments in Europe. This was done using a standard protocol recording all relevant information for radiation exposure, i.e. radiation protection devices and tools. This study shows the preliminary results obtained for this measurement campaign. For diagnostic purposes, the two most-used radionuclides were considered: (99m)Tc and (18)F. For therapeutic treatments, Zevalin(®) and DOTATOC (both labelled with (90)Y) were chosen. Large variations of doses were observed across the hands depending on different parameters. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of the positioning of the extremity dosemeter for a correct estimate of the maximum skin doses.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiation Physics, University Hospital Center of Lausanne, Grand-pré 1, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland. marta.sans-merce@chuv.ch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sans Merce
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carnicer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Donadille
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fulop
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ginjaume
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gualdrini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krim
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rimpler
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vanhavere
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baechler
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D005121:Extremities / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005385:Fingers / Q000528:radiation effects; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000379:methods; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000528:radiation effects; D013667:Technetium / Q000032:analysis; D000078329:Workforce
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D011868:Radioisotopes; D013667:Technetium