title: Estimated collective effective dose to the population from nuclear medicine examinations in Slovenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A national survey of patient exposure from nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures was performed by Slovenian Radiation Protection Administration in order to estimate their contribution to the collective effective dose to the population of Slovenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A set of 36 examinations with the highest contributions to the collective effective dose was identified. Data about frequencies and average administered activities of radioisotopes used for those examinations were collected from all nuclear medicine departments in Slovenia. A collective effective dose to the population and an effective dose per capita were estimated from the collected data using dose conversion factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total collective effective dose to the population from nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures in 2011 was estimated to 102 manSv, giving an effective dose per capita of 0.05 mSv.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The comparison of results of this study with studies performed in other countries indicates that the nuclear medicine providers in Slovenia are well aware of the importance of patient protection measures and of optimisation of procedures.
authors.affiliation: Slovenian Radiation Protection Administration, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Damijan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Skrk
authors.forename: Dejan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zontar
keywords: collective effective dose; diagnostic procedures; dose per capita; nuclear medicine; population exposure