Medicina nuclear

Radiological Protection of Patients in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy
Proceedings of an international conference held in Málaga, Spain, 26–30 March 2001, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and co-sponsored by the European Commission, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization

RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION OFPATIENTS IN DIAGNOSTIC AND INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND RADIOTHERAPY

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PROCEEDINGS SERIES

RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION OF PATIENTS IN DIAGNOSTIC AND INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND RADIOTHERAPY
PROCEEDINGS OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD IN MÁLAGA, SPAIN, 26–30 MARCH 2001, ORGANIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AND CO-SPONSORED BY THE EUROPEANCOMMISSION, THE PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2001

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Permission to reproduce or translate the information contained in this publication may be obtained by writing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria.

© IAEA, 2001

VIC Library Cataloguing inPublication Data International Conference on Radiological Protection of Patients in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (2001 : Malaga, Spain) Radiological protection of patients in diagnostic and interventional radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy : proceedings of an international conference held in Malaga, Spain, 26–30 March 2001 / organized by theInternational Atomic Energy Agency...[et al.]. — Vienna : The Agency, 2001. p. ; 24 cm. — (Proceedings series, ISSN 0074–1884) STI/PUB/1113 ISBN 92–0–101401–5 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Diagnosis, Radioscopic—Safety measures—Congresses. 2. Interventional radiology—Safety measures—Congresses. 3. Nuclear medicine—Safety measures—Congresses. 4. Radiotherapy—Safety measures—Congresses.I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series. VICL Printed by the IAEA in Austria September 2001 STI/PUB/1113 01–00268

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FOREWORD
Medical applications of ionizing radiation (or ‘radiation’ for short) are accepted worldwide as essential tools for protecting and improving human health. However, they also represent by far the largest human-made source of radiation exposure. The UnitedNations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation estimates that diagnostic medical applications of radiation account for about 95% of the exposure to radiation from human-made sources and about 12% of total exposure. Furthermore, there is certain to be a continuing increase in the prevalence of medical applications of radiation, including high dose procedures, as in the followingcases: — Radiological interventional procedures, which are increasingly being used to replace surgery, can lead to very high radiation doses, both to patients and to medical staff, in some cases exceeding thresholds for deterministic effects. — The use of helical computed tomography (CT) has improved the diagnostic quality of CT examinations, and the procedures are faster and more flexible than withnon-helical equipment. However, the increased number of procedures and the increased number of scans per procedure may lead to a significant increase in radiation exposure to patients. In diagnosis, the radiological protection objective is to keep doses as low as reasonably achievable while obtaining the necessary diagnostic information. According to the International Commission on RadiologicalProtection, doses from similar radiological investigations can differ by as much as two orders of magnitude. There is therefore considerable scope for dose reduction in diagnostic and interventional radiology and also in nuclear medicine. In therapy, the objective is to ensure that the target tissue is given the prescribed dose while minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissue. If the dose,...