A lightweight 0.25 mm lead equivalence protective apron for shielding radiological technologists from radiation exposure during single-photon emission computed tomography in nuclear medicine
| Autor: | T. Kanzaki, T. Higuchi, X. Zhang, Y. Takahashi, M. Sakai, Y. Tsushima |
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| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Radioprotection. 57:143-148 |
| ISSN: | 1769-700X 0033-8451 |
| Popis: | Radiological technologists in nuclear medicine departments (NMRTs) are exposed to higher radiation doses than other nuclear medicine staff. Consequently, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency recommends using a 0.5-mm lead equivalence protective apron (PA) for staff with radiation exposure > 800 MBq of 99mTc. However, 0.5 mm PA is heavy and cumbersome to use. We evaluated the effectiveness of a 0.25 mm lead equivalence lightweight protective apron (L-PA) for NMRT radiation exposure during daily nuclear medicine procedures. The work was performed both with a phantom and in a real situation in our study. The phantom study was conducted with five radioisotopes (RI) placed 0.5 m from the human phantom with and without L-PA. In the clinical study, NMRT recorded the radiation dose for 20 days inside and outside the L-PA using clinical agents (140 examinations). In the phantom study, L-PA decreased the measured doses by 63% with 201Tl, 41% with 99mTc, 27% with 67Ga, 33% with 123I, and 10% with 131I. In the clinical study, L-PA reduced the average dose per day by 43%. Therefore, L-PA could have sufficient shielding ability for daily work, mainly using 99mTc, and could be recommended by considering PA weight. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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