Radiation exposure to nuclear medicine staff involved in PET/CT practice in Serbia.
The purpose of this work is to evaluate the radiation exposure to nuclear medicine (NM) staff in the two positron emission tomography-computed tomography centres in Serbia and to investigate the possibilities for dose reduction. Dose levels in terms of Hp(10) for whole body and Hp(0.07) for hands of NM staff were assessed using thermoluminescence and electronic personal dosemeters. The assessed doses per procedure in terms of Hp(10) were 4.2-7 and 5-6 μSv, in two centres, respectively, whereas the extremity doses in terms of Hp(0.07) in one of the centres was 34-126 μSv procedure(-1). The whole-body doses per unit activity were 17-19 and 21-26 μSv GBq(-1) in two centres, respectively, and the normalised finger dose in one centre was 170-680 μSv GBq(-1). The maximal estimated annual whole-body doses in two centres were 3.4 and 2.0 mSv, while the corresponding extremity dose in the later one was 45 mSv. Improvements as introduction of automatic dispensing system and injection and optimisation of working practice resulted in dose reduction ranging from 12 up to 67 %.
Center for Nuclear Medicine, University Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
V
V
Antic
Radiation Protection Laboratory, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science, University of Belgrade, PO Box 522, Belgrade 11001, Serbia ociraj@vinca.rs.
O
O
Ciraj-Bjelac
Radiation Protection Laboratory, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science, University of Belgrade, PO Box 522, Belgrade 11001, Serbia.
J
J
Stankovic
Radiation Protection Laboratory, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science, University of Belgrade, PO Box 522, Belgrade 11001, Serbia.
D
D
Arandjic
Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
N
N
Todorovic
Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Novi Sad, Serbia.
S
S
Lucic
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000009:adverse effects; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D009683:Nuclear Medicine; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000009:adverse effects; D055771:Serbia; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18