Assessment of Patients' and Radiation Worker's Doses in Shahid Chamran Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, and Comparison with Permitted Doses

The use of radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine departments and their harmful biological effects on patients and their relatives are necessary to assess the dose in the Nuclear Medicine Department, Chamran Hospital, Isfahan, and compare with permitted values.

In this experimental cross-sectional study, the cumulative dose of 15 personnel and 30 patients referred to Chamran Hospital in Isfahan with thyroid cancer who were candidates for receiving 200 mCi of iodine 131 and overnight quarantine was investigated. For this purpose, thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) were used. TLDs were placed at distances of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 meters from the patients' heads, and then they were collected and read, and the values were compared with permitted doses.

The cumulative dose of gonads, thyroid, two thumbs, and index finger of personnel was 0.113 ± 0.11, 0.134 ± 0.09, 0.501 ± 0.12 mSv, and found that the annual dose is 1.356, 1.608, and 6.012 mSv, respectively. The average cumulative dose of the patients at distances of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 meters from the patients was 49.12 ± 5.74, 12.73 ± 4.43 and 3.53 ± 4.37 mSv, respectively.

The dose of the fingers of personnel was within the boundary of permitted doses, so it is necessary to recommend using lead gloves in possible cases. The minimum distance required to minimize the risks caused by iodine 131 is 150 cm, and it seems crucial to observe this distance in the first five days of discharge of patients.