Comparison of Nuclear-Medicine-Technologist Absorb Dose in Myocardial Perfusion Scan between Responsible for Injection and Imaging

Most radioactive materials used in nuclear medicine are gamma emitter. Gamma range is relatively high, so the nuclear medicine technologists are exposed to external exposure by gamma. This study aimed to estimate nuclear medicine technologist dose at the time of injection of radiotracer 99mTC-MIBI and time of patients heart scan.
This survey was done on nuclear medicine technologist in Chamran Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Received dose was measured with digital pocket dosimeter that was calibrated by Iranian Atomic Energy Agency. Dosimeter measured the dose while it was on collective dose with microsievert unit. Data were analysed with SPSS and Excel software.
Findings: The technologist received more dose during injection of 99mTC-MIBI and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), 0.36 ± 0.073, 0.24 ± 0.07 microsievert per patient scan, respectively.
The results of this study were in good agreement with other studies. According to this result, technologist who is responsible for injection received 30% more than who is responsible for imaging; so rotation shift for technologists is essential.