Assessment of Radiation Area Dose Rate in Nuclear Medicine Hot Lab during Technetium Generator Elution

The hot lab is a specially designed room in a nuclear medicine hospital where the radiopharmaceuticals are delivered, stored, and prepared for dispensing. Mo99/Tc99m generator is the major source in the hot lab used for various medical imaging. It is important to maintain a standard for hot lab procedures to optimize patient care and minimize radiation exposure to all nuclear medicine personnel, patients, the public, as well as the environment. The descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used to measure radiation area dose rate during elution at different distances with generator days’ progress in King Fahad specialist hospital Dammam, using a GM device, which is a gas-filled detector that measure radiation area dose rate in real-time. The dose rate was measured in μGy/hr during the first tenth days at 0.15m, 0.3m, and 0.6m distances from the generator during elution. The study revealed dose rate was decreased with distance increased and generator days’ progress. A significant relationship was found between them at p ≥ 0.01. The inner surface dose rate was also measured at 1m distance from generator in μGy/hr, and the dose rate readings were 0.85, 0.30 and 0.20 μGy/hr at the 1st, 5th and 10th day respectively. The outer surface also has been measured at 1m distance away from the hot lab door in μGy/hr, and the dose rate readings were 0.35, 0.15, and 0.10 μGy/hr, at the 1st, 5th and 10th day respectively. The study represents a statistically significant relationship between generator days’ progress and the dose rate readings in both the outer and inner surface of the hot lab, at p ≥ 0.01. Special care should be taken properly in the hot lab, especially at the receipt date of a new generator. Each nuclear medicine facility should be taken ALARA principle properly. The need for growing awareness among all the radiation workers was recommended and encouraging safe working practices in nuclear medicine.