title: [Effective method for decontaminating radioactive X-ray detectors (imaging plates)].
abstract: Several hospitals have been observing black spots in medical images, and the radioisotopes (RIs) that cause the spots needs to be removed from the X-ray receptors. Our purpose is to show a flowchart for finding out under which conditions an imaging plate (IP) and other parts (for example, the cassette) are contaminated by RIs and to propose an effective method to remove them. The procedure follows. (1) Is RI activity low? (2) Are the surfaces of other parts contaminated? (3) Is the surface of the IP contaminated? (4) Are the insides of the other parts contaminated? To remove the adhered RIs, we applied a wipe test method using a wet type of chemical wiper. A certain hospital that observed black spots experimented with this method. As a result, the contaminated condition of the X-ray receptor was identified. In addition, we were able to remove the RIs from the IP. Therefore, our procedure is very effective for decontaminating adhered RIs from receptors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School.
authors.forename: Sadamitsu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishihara
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D003666:Decontamination / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes