Background: Technetium-99m radioisotope is the backbone of any nuclear medicine institute. It is well known that various 99mTclabeled radiopharmaceuticals may get absorbed into the plastic syringes. The consequences of this adsorption are inadequate or inconsistent absorbed dose which produces the inappropriate diagnostic response in patients. The aim of our study was to investigate the true activity administrated to patients and also compare the results of residual activities of the same dose by using different volumes of syringes. Methods: A total 946 measurements were analyzed in which patients were injected with either 3 or 5 ml syringes and 99mTc was labeled with different pharmaceuticals, i.e., mercaptoacetyltriglycine-3, methoxy-iso-butyl isonitrile, methylenediphosphonic acid (MDP), and technetium pertechnitate. Residual activity was measured for every patient. Results: The 3 ml syringes have less average retention rate for any radiopharmaceutical as compared to 5 ml syringes. Residual activity for MDP is lower when compared to other radiopharmaceutical for both volumes of syringes. Maximum residual activity for 5 ml syringes happens to be 3.42% of dispensed activity, while for 3 ml syringes it is 2.74% of dispensed activity. The mean effective activities were within the recommended range of EANM and PNRA guidelines. Conclusion: For all radiopharmaceuticals and both syringes, average residual activity remained well under 1.5% of the activity drawn into syringes, which is insignificant when compared to previous reported results and may not alter the resultant image quality to a larger extent. In hospital, practices should be encouraged to reduce the residual activity as low as possible.
It is essential to determine the absolute output dose of Co-60 source in the radiation treatment periodically. It is because overdosage may cause radiation hazards whereas under dosage may lead to the unsatisfactory treatment of cancer. The current study is focused on the consistency of monthly dose output verification of the cobalt-60 Teletherapy unit which should be within ±2% as per international standards. In the present study, the measured and calculated dose rate of the Co-60 teletherapy unit at Nuclear Medicine Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute Nawabshah (NORIN) for the last 6 years is analyzed. The dose measurement was done in water phantom 30×30×30 cm3 at 80 cm Source to Surface Distance with 5cm depth by using calibrated electrometer and PTW ionization chamber. The measured output dose rate obtained by actual dosimetry is within ±2% of the dose rate calculated by the decay method and the deviation lies within the permissible limit as prescribed by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Commission on Radiological Units and Measurement (ICRUM)and American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). The variation in measurements obtained is within the tolerable limits according to standard protocols and codes. Thus, our study shows a homogenous trend in the dose rate of the Co-60 teletherapy machine.
The risks related to the radiation exposures cannot be eradicated, but can be minimized by implementing radiation safety culture in the hot-labs. This study aimed to measure background radiation levels in hot-laboratory, arguably the area with the highest radiation level, where all radiopharmaceuticals are prepared in a cancer hospital.Ten distinct locations inside the hot-lab were periodically monitored with a pre-calibrated RM1001-RD LAMSE radiation survey meter for the period of one year. Daily dose rates were recorded and AEDR was calculated using standard notations. The dose rates on selected points were found ranging from 0.12 to 0.21 μSv/h while the Annual Effective Doses were found a maximum rate of 1.47±0.04 mSv/y and minimum 0.85 ± 0.03 mSv/y. These findings show t-test values with a level of significance of 5% (P<0.05). It is concluded that the dose rates in our setup are negligible as per the NRC dose limit of 20 μSv/h and AEDR is about 58% of the radiation limit of 2.4 mSv/y recommended by UNSCEAR. Therefore, the hotlab technologist is radio-biologically safe inside hot-lab with this setup having strict compliance with radiation protection protocols. This study give some findings about undue radiophobia in the hot-lab technologists worked in the Nuclear Medicine departments of cancer hospitals.
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