Measurement of the Dose to the Family Members Taking Care of Thyroid Cancer Patients Undergoing I-131 Therapy in Nuclear Medicine Using TLD-100

Abstract

The family members or friends of the patients undergoing treatment using radioiodine in nuclear medicine are inevitably exposed to ionization radiation. The purpose of this study is measurement of the dose received by the people taking care of the thyroid cancer patients treated by 131I. For this purpose, the dose amounts received by 29 people accompanying patients were measured using thermoluminescence dosimeters. A badge containing three TLD-100 chips was given to each caregiver. The people were asked to wear the badges for 24 days, when they are taking care of the patients. Finally the dose to each person was estimated by averaging the readings of the three TLDs. The measured dose amounts to the people were compared with the recommendations of international commitions. According to the results obtained in this study, the amounts of dose received by the caregivers were between 0.03 and 0.38 mSv, with the average of 0.12 mSv. By comparison of the results of this study with the recommendations of International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), it can be observed that the dose to family members of the patients is less than the dose constraints. However, it is recommended that the caregivers be aware of the radiation protection principles in order to reduce their dose.

131I thyroid activity and committed dose assessment among family members of patients treated with radioactive iodine

“…These doses are relatively low, keeping in mind that the maximum effective dose of 218 µSv is only about 9% of the mean annual effective dose due to natural radiation sources in Poland, which may suggest that there will be no discernible negative consequences for the health of the examined individuals. In addition, the estimated doses are also significantly lower than the external doses found in other studies for relatives of patients treated with 131 I (Mathieu et al 1999;Pant et al 2005;Kocovska et al 2011a, b;Zehtabian et al 2017).…”

“…However, there is a potential risk that patients may neglect or even totally desist obeying these radiological protection rules. So far, the approach to radiation protection of family members’ patients treated with radioactive iodine was based only on the assessment of external doses (Mathieu et al 1999 ; Pant et al 2005 ; Kocovska et al 2011a , b ; Zehtabian et al 2017 ). Nonetheless, 131 I is being excreted from the patient’s body (mainly in sweat and urine) and easily sublimes, which may cause a potential risk that it is inhaled relatives and accumulated in their thyroids.…”

Measurement of Entrance Skin Dose and the Dose Received by Different Organs in Panoramic Dental Imaging

“…Thus, measuring the dose delivered to patients in various radiographic tests and optimizing the image quality, and dose to reduce the risk of radiation exposure are very important. Thermoluminescence dosimetry has always been one of the effective dosimetry methods for estimating doses in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The purpose of this study is to estimate the entrance skin dose and the doses received by various organs in OPG imaging.…”

Prediction of dose to the relatives of patients treated with radioiodine-131 using neural networks

“…In most cases, the doses to family members are below 1 mSv. However, there are also a few cases where children or other persons have received higher radiation doses [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”