Aim: The aim of this study is to find an optimum material to protect garment for protection against 99Tcm radionuclide.Materials and Methods: Monte Carlo simulation code was applied to investigate radiation attenuation of 13 shielding materials including: Ba, gray Sn, white Sn, Sb, Bi, Bi2O3, BaSO4, Sn/W, Sb/W, Pb and W with thicknesses of 0.5 and 1 mm to determine an optimum protective garment material in nuclear medicine against 99Tcm. Furthermore, the dose enhancement on the staff body was investigated for shielding materials such as tungsten and lead.Results: The findings of the simulations show that the maximum and minimum attenuation obtained with thicknesses of 1 mm W and 1 mm BaSO4 were 96.46% and 14.2%, respectively. The results also demonstrate that tungsten does not cause any dose enhancement on staff body but this is not true for lead. Tungsten provides the highest radiation attenuation without dose enhancement on the body of staff.Conclusion: Among materials evaluated, tungsten is the optimum material and it can be applied for the design of protective garment for nuclear medicine staff against 99Tcm.
Background: 131 I source is widely used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancers. 131 I emits both beta and gamma-rays. Radiation protection is considered for gamma rays emitted by 131 I. It seems no special shield against 131 I source to be designed. Objective: This research aims to evaluate determination of optimum shields in nuclear medicine against 99 Tc m and 131 I sources by dosimetric method. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulation was used to find the optimum thickness of lead for protection against 131 I source. Material and Methods: This is an experimental research in the field of radiation protection. A calibrated model of GraetzX5C Plus dosimeter was used to measure exposure rates passing through the shields. The efficiency of the shields was evaluated against 99 Tc m and 131 I. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation was used to find the optimum thickness of lead for protection against 131 I source. Results: The findings of the dosimetric method show that the minimum and maximum efficiencies obtained by the lead apron with lead equivalent thickness of 0.25 mm and the syringe holder shields with thickness of 0.5 mm lead were 50.86% and 99.50%, respectively. The results of the simulations show that the minimum and maximum efficiencies obtained by lead thicknesses of 1 mm and 43 mm were 19.36% and 99.79%, respectively. Conclusion: The optimum shields against 99 Tc m are the syringe holder shield, the tungsten syringe shield, and the lead partition, respectively. Furthermore, based on simulations, the thicknesses of 11-28 mm of lead with efficiencies between 90.6% to 99% are suggested as the optimum thicknesses to protect against 131 I source.
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