A software-based approach for calculating spatially resolved radiation exposure for structural radiation protection in nuclear medical imaging

Journal of Radiological Protection, vol. 42, pp. 021531

Abstract

F. The calculation of the generated local annual dose in the vicinity of these radioactive sources supports the engineering of structural measures necessary to meet regulatory guidelines. In addition to accuracy and precision, a visual and intuitive presentation of the calculation results enables fast evaluation. Finally, the calculated results are presented in a contour plot for design, evaluation, and documentation purposes. A python program was used to provide the calculation routines for structural radiation protection. For simplicity, the radiating sources can be considered as point sources. The attenuation of structural elements can be specified or, in the case of lead, calculated by virtue of its thickness. The calculated attenuation for the lead shielding is always slightly underestimated, which leads to a marginally higher calculated local dose rate than would be physically present. With the conservatively determined value, the structural radiation protection can be optimised in accordance with the general rule of as low as reasonably achievable. The pointwise comparison between the software results and the standard procedure for calculating the dose of points in space leads to similar values. In comparison with the general approach of calculating single representative points in the radiation protection area, the visual and intuitive presentation of the results supports the design and documentation of the measures required for structural radiation protection. In the present version of the software, the local dose rate and local annual dose are overestimated by a maximum of 4.5% in the case of lead shields. The proposed software, termed RadSoft, was successfully used to develop the structural radiation protection of a controlled area for hybrid magnetic resonance - positron emission tomography imaging, with the focus herein being on the requirements for PET.

Authors 5

1. Stefan Schwan

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine—4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

2. Arbia Khezami

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Imaging Core Facility, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

3. Janina Hohnholz

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine—4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

4. Christoph W. Lerche

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine—4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

5. Nadim Jon Shah corresponding Aachen Department of Neurology Faculty of Medicine JARA–BRAIN–Translational Medicine

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-11, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   JARA-BRAIN-Translational Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine—11, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine—4, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

   JARA—BRAIN—Translational Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany