[Incorporation Monitoring of Staff using I-131 and Lu-177 in a Nuclear Medicine Ward]

In addition to the well-established therapy with iodine-131, treatments with lutetium-177 are increasingly being performed on an inpatient basis in Germany. All of these treatments have be taken into account when assessing the potential internal dose and for incorporation monitoring of personnel. This article describes the experience with and the results of incorporation monitoring of staff of a nuclear medicine ward of a university hospital in Germany.

Personnel working in a nuclear medicine ward was regularly measured using a whole body counter. In total, 234 measurements were performed over a period of 12 months. Incorporation factors were determined considering activities handled or applied to patients in the respective time period.

In approx. 74 % of measurements, no incorporations was found. In the remaining measurements, activity was detected. Assuming incorporation, the maximum effective dose would be less than 0.15 mSv per measurement. The incorporation factors determined in this work were in the order of magnitude of 10^-7 for all groups except for personnel performing radiochemical quality control. For this group, only an upper limit of the incorporation factor of 10^-5 can be specified.

The risk of incorporating radiactivity can be considered low for personnel working in a nuclear medicine ward. An incorporation factor of 10^-7 is appropriate for medical, nursing, and cleaning staff and personnel performing radiochemical syntheses.