• The scientific unit of measurement for radiation dose, commonly referred to as effective dose, is the millisievert (mSv)

Typical Radiation Doses (From Various Sources)*• Watching television 0.01 mSv/year

• Air travel (r/t from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, Calif.) 0.05 mSv

• Medical chest X-ray (one film) 0.1 mSv • Nuclear medicine thyroid scan 0.14 mSv

• Full set of dental X-rays 0.4 mSv/yr • Mammogram (four views) 0.7 mSv

• Average annual exposure living in the United States3 mSv/year

• Average annual exposure from breathing radon gas2 mSv

• Nuclear medicine lung scan 2 mSv • Nuclear medicine bone scan 4.2 mSv• Nuclear cardiac diagnostic test (technetium

or Tc-99m) 10 mSv • Abdominal CT scan 10 mSv• Various PET studies (18F FDG) 14 mSv • Tobacco products (amount for a smoker’s

lungs from 20 cigarettes a day) 53 mSv/year • Cancer treatment (tumor receives) 50,000

mSv

Complete Exams Effective Dose mSv (mrem)• Intravenous Pyelogram (kidneys, 6 films) 2.5 (250)• Barium Swallow (24 images, 106 sec. fluoroscopy) 1.5

(150)• Barium Enema (10 images, 137 sec. fluoroscopy) 7.0

(700)• CT Head 2.0 (200)• CT Chest 8.0 (800)• CT Abdomen 10.0 (1,000)• CT Pelvis 10.0 (1,000)• Angioplasty (heart study) 7.5 (750) - 57.0 (5,700)3• Coronary Angiogram 4.6 (460) - 15.8 (1,580)3

Typical Effective Radiation Dose from Diagnostic X Ray—Single Exposure Exam

Effective DosemSv (mrem)1• Chest (LAT) 0.04 (4)• Chest (AP) 0.02 (2)• Skull (AP) 0.03 (3)• Skull (Lat) 0.01 (1)• Pelvis (AP) 0.7 (70)• Thoracic Spine (AP) 0.4 (40)• Lumbar Spine (AP) 0.7 (70)

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

• Important considerations before a procedure are:

• 1. the skill sets of the physician• 2. the physicians’ and the technologists’

knowledge about their angiographic machine• 3. the medical history of the patient• 4. the likely difficulty of the procedure• 5. the body habitus of the patient.

Injury to arm of patient. Patient was draped for procedure and physicians did not realize that she had moved her arm so that it was resting on the port of

the X-ray tube during the procedure

RADIATION BURNS

Protection for Workers

Thyroid Cancer / Hyperactive Thyroid

• RAI treatment is based on the fact that the thyroid actively accumulates iodine, which it uses to produce thyroid hormones required for normal body function. This RAI is like the iodine found in foods such as fish, seaweed, and iodized salt, except that it releases an electron, or beta particle, which creates its therapeutic action.

For use in treatment, the RAI is given dissolved in water or as a capsule. It is absorbed quickly by the stomach and intestines, then carried in the bloodstream to the thyroid, where it is taken up by the gland. While in the thyroid gland, the RAI disrupts the function of some of the thyroid cells - the more radioactive iodine given, the more cells cease to function. As the cells stop functioning, excessive amounts of thyroid hormones are no longer produced, and symptoms of hyperthyroidism begin to disappear

HYPERTHYROIDISM

In general, a distance of one arm's length should be maintained between the person treated and others who spend more than two hours next to the patient in any 24 hour period. This applies especially to children and pregnant women. While brief contact with a person after treatment is acceptable, sleeping together, watching television, going to movies, long care or plane trips should be avoided for approximately 11 days after the treatment.

A smoker can accumulate 53 mSv/year of radiation exposure. This

is less than a CT scan

A.) True

B.) False

Potential burns from radiation can result form the inexperience of the people operating / maintaining the

equipmentA.) True

B.) False

When receiving radiation treatments for thyroid cancer, there are no restrictions on your movement.

A.) True

B.) False