Automated Injectors versus Manual Administration: A Comparative Analysis of Radiation Exposure Reduction in ¹⁸ F-FDG...

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiology
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Manual handling of radiopharmaceuticals poses significant occupational radiation risks to healthcare professionals, especially to hands and eyes.
• Existing safety protocols have not fully mitigated radiation exposure during radiopharmaceutical manipulation.
• Nuclear medicine personnel face continuous radiation exposure risks from daily tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of automated injectors in minimizing radiation exposure for healthcare workers.
• To compare radiation doses from automated versus manual injection of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG).
• To assess the impact of automation on whole-body, extremity, and eye-lens radiation doses.

Main Methods:

• Radiation exposure was measured using specialized dosimeters for both manual and automated 18F-FDG injection techniques.
• Dosimetry focused on whole-body, extremity (hands), and eye-lens radiation doses.
• Comparative analysis of radiation levels between the two injection methods was performed.

Main Results:

• Automated injectors reduced left-hand and right-hand extremity doses by 97.97% and 98.96%, respectively.
• Eye-lens radiation dose decreased by 43.24% with automated injection.
• Whole-body radiation dose was reduced by 91.66% when using automated injection systems compared to manual methods.

Conclusions:

• Automated injection systems substantially decrease occupational radiation exposure for healthcare workers in nuclear medicine.
• The significant reduction in staff radiation doses highlights the need to adopt automated technology.
• Implementing automated injectors enhances safety and promotes a safer clinical environment in diagnostic radiology.