National Survey of Radiation Protection for Workers in Positron Emission Tomography Facilities in Japan-1st Report: Occupational Role Assignment, Radiation Exposure to Medical Workers

Abstract

We have investigated the role assignment and radiation exposure of medical workers (including receptionists) in PET (positron emission tomography) facilities in Japan using a questionnaire. The survey period was from October 1st to November 15th 2006. The response rate for the questionnaire was 60.0% (72/120 facilities). Nurses were engaged in the intravenous administration of radioactive FDG in 66.9% of PET facilities. In 89.5% of PET facilities, radiological technologists mainly performed the PET examination. The average radiation exposure to medical workers was 0.13 mSv/month (n: 709, S.D.: 0.16) as the effective dose. It was shown that radiation exposure was significantly different depending on the occupation and content of work (p<0.01). The radiation exposure of cyclotron operators and radiological technologists was higher than that of the other occupations (p<0.01). The highest radiation dose to one worker per a PET facility was 0.60 [mSv month(-1)], which was 4.6 times higher than the average dose of 0.13 [mSv month(-1)]. We have clarified the actual conditions of radiation protection in PET facilities in Japan for the first time.

Factors affecting radiation exposure dose in nursing staff during 18F‐ fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography

“…Previous studies reported that the average radia-tion dose was approximately 24 µ Sv/day or approximately 0.1 mSv/month in nursing staff 6,10) ; however, these reports did not describe the physical and mental conditions of the patients. In the present study, the average ± SD for radiation dose per case was slightly higher (6.07 ± 5.71 µ Sv/case) than those in the previous reports.…”

“…The burdens of nursing care are increasing for patients who have low activities of daily living (ADL) indices or impaired cognitive function because 18 F-FDG PET/CT is increasingly used to examine them. Furthermore, the radiation exposure doses of nursing staff during PET examinations are increasing in Japan 6) . The principles of radiation protection, i.e., exposure time, distance, and shielding, are always adhered-to for any procedure involving radioactive administration.…”