Advanced nuclear medicine (NM) functional diagnostic methods (scintigraphy and PET) and NM therapy methods use open sources of ionizing radiation for diagnostic and treatment of patients, and therefore, staff working in this field are under the increased risk related to occupational radiation exposure. To minimize the potential risk of professional diseases or radiation induced cancer, suitable dose assessment techniques are necessary; however due to the low exposure levels in NM sector, personal dose evaluation is difficult and often limited to dose records from personal dosimeters. Even the doses to hands and especially to fingers of NM personnel, which are objects of the enhanced exposure risk, are evaluated from TLD dosimetric rings, worn on the finger during the operation. These measurements do not reflect the real situation as, according to EU statistics, workers’ fingertips often receive doses close to the annual limit values (500 mSv). This project is aimed to develop a system for hand / finger dose assessment of occupationally exposed NM workers, to prevent the enhanced levels of exposure and to assess radiation related professional risks.
Project funding:
KTU Research and Innovation Fund
Project results:
1. A retrospective and prospective analysis of the doses to technologists working at the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the Radiology Clinic of LSMUL Kaunas Clinic was carried out and correlation between the whole body exposure doses and doses to the hands of BM technologists and the ongoing activities was identified.
2. A methodology for the dynamic monitoring of the whole body exposure doses has been developed and implemented, including mapping the recording of dynamic doses.
3. A methodology for the assessment of the exposure doses to workers’ hands/fingers has been proposed and implemented.
4. The lifetime risk for the development of oncological diseases as a result of the exposure has been evaluated for radiotechnologists.
Period of project implementation: 2020-04-06 - 2020-12-31
Project partners: Lithuanian University of Health Sciences
