• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2021

Purpose There are many cyclotrons compared to the land area of the Republic of Korea. Because GMP certification is required and the nuclear medicine test does not apply for insurance, the number of examinations for nuclear medicine is decreasing. Therefore, there is a high probability of early decommissioning of the cyclotron. However, we do not unusually perform the radioactivation evaluation on concrete that can be classified as radioactive waste during the decommissioning of the cyclotron. In this study, we aim to confirm the radioactivation in the concrete surface using Handheld Radionuclide Identification Devices (RIDs). Materials and Methods Because there is no cyclotron being decommissioning in the Republic of Korea, it was impossible to perform the coring of concrete for radioactivation analysis. In this study, we used the KIRAMS-13 and analyzed the concrete surface in the target direction in the cyclotron room. After setting the target direction as the center, radionuclides were measured for about five months at thirty points with vertical and horizontal intervals of 30 cm. We used the RIIDEye(Detector: NaI(Tl) detector, manufacturer: Thermo) in this study and set the measurement time per point to one day (24 hours). Results Co-60 and Cs-137 were detected in some measurement points, and we confirmed the radioactivity of Co-60 detected at the most points. As a result, we found that the radioactivity of Co-60 was high in the diagonal direction (from the lower-left direction to the upper right direction) based on the center of the target. However, we think it is impossible to apply the corresponding results to all cyclotrons because we performed the study using only one cyclotron. Conclusion In thirty measurement points, we could confirm the radioactive nuclides and the relative radioactivity using the results of portable nuclides analyzer. Therefore, we expect that we can use the portable nuclides analyzer to select the coring position of concrete during the decommissioning of the cyclotron. Also, if we secure the radioactivation data for several years, we expect to make a more accurate estimate of radioactive waste during the preparation period of decommissioning of the cyclotron.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.32-36
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• 2016

Purpose In nuclear medicine examination, $^{131}I$ is widely used in nuclear medicine examination such as diagnosis, treatment, and others of thyroid cancer and other diseases. $^{131}I$ conducts examination and treatment through emission of ${\gamma}$ ray and ${\beta}^-$ ray. Since $^{131}I$ (364 keV) contains more energy compared to $^{99m}Tc$ (140 keV) although it displays high integrated rate and enables quick discharge through kidney, the objective of this study lies in comparing the difference in exposure dose of $^{131}I$ before and after wearing apron when handling $^{131}I$ with focus on 3 elements of external exposure protection that are distance, time, and shield in order to reduce the exposure to technicians in comparison with $^{99m}Tc$ during the handling and administration process. When wearing apron (in general, Pb 0.5 mm), $^{99m}Tc$ presents shield of over 90% but shielding effect of $^{131}I$ is relatively low as it is of high energy and there may be even more exposure due to influence of scattered ray (secondary) and bremsstrahlung in case of high dose. However, there is no special report or guideline for low dose (74 MBq) high energy thus quantitative analysis on exposure dose of technicians will be conducted based on apron wearing during the handling of $^{131}I$. Materials and Methods With patients who visited Department of Nuclear Medicine of our hospital for low dose $^{131}I$ administration for thyroid cancer and diagnosis for 7 months from Jun 2014 to Dec 2014 as its subject, total 6 pieces of TLD was attached to interior and exterior of apron placed on thyroid, chest, and testicle from preparation to administration. Then, radiation exposure dose from $^{131}I$ examination to administration was measured. Total procedure time was set as within 5 min per person including 3 min of explanation, 1 min of distribution, and 1 min of administration. In regards to TLD location selection, chest at which exposure dose is generally measured and thyroid and testicle with high sensitivity were selected. For preparation, 74 MBq of $^{131}I$ shall be distributed with the use of $2m{\ell}$ syringe and then it shall be distributed after making it into dose of $2m{\ell}$ though dilution with normal saline. When distributing $^{131}I$ and administering it to the patient, $100m{\ell}$ of water shall be put into a cup, distributed $^{131}I$ shall be diluted, and then oral administration to patients shall be conducted with the distance of 1m from the patient. The process of withdrawing $2m{\ell}$ syringe and cup used for oral administration was conducted while wearing apron and TLD. Apron and TLD were stored at storage room without influence of radiation exposure and the exposure dose was measured with request to Seoul Radiology Services. Results With the result of monthly accumulated exposure dose of TLD worn inside and outside of apron placed on thyroid, chest, and testicle during low dose $^{131}I$ examination during the research period divided by number of people, statistics processing was conducted with Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test using SPSS Version. 12.0K. As a result, it was revealed that there was no significant difference since all of thyroid (p = 0.345), chest (p = 0.686), and testicle (p = 0.715) were presented to be p > 0.05. Also, when converting the change in total exposure dose during research period into percentage, it was revealed to be -23.5%, -8.3%, and 19.0% for thyroid, chest, and testicle respectively. Conclusion As a result of conducting Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, it was revealed that there is no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). Also, in case of calculating shielding rate with accumulate exposure dose during 7 months, it was revealed that there is irregular change in exposure dose for inside and outside of apron. Although the degree of change seems to be high when it is expressed in percentage, it cannot be considered a big change since the unit of accumulated exposure dose is in decimal points. Therefore, regardless of wearing apron during high energy low dose $^{131}I$ administration, placing certain distance and terminating the administration as soon as possible would be of great assistance in reducing the exposure dose. Although this study restricted $^{131}I$ administration time to be within 5 min per person and distance for oral administration to be 1m, there was a shortcoming to acquire accurate result as there was insufficient number of N for statistics and it could be processed only through non-parametric method. Also, exposure dose per person during lose dose $^{131}I$ administration was measured with accumulated exposure dose using TLD rather than through direct-reading exposure dose thus more accurate result could be acquired when measurement is conducted using electronic dosimeter and pocket dosimeter.