Results of the national intercomparison exercise in internal dosimetry

Abstract

The manipulation of unsealed sources of radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in the practice of nuclear medicine in Cuba represents a risk, from a radiological point of view, for occupationally exposed personnel linked to this activity. For this reason, the existence of a surveillance program that verifies that said risk is minimized, based on compliance with existing national regulations and observance of international recommendations, is essential. The basis of this program is the performance of an individual monitoring that allows to quantify the activity of the radionuclide incorporated by the exposed personnel, with the final objective of estimating its committed effective dose. In the case of Cuba, ¹³¹I is the radionuclide that poses the greatest risk from the point of view of incorporation, for which special attention has been devoted to it.

Since 2011, the Internal Dosimetry Laboratory of the Center for Radiation Protection and Hygiene has developed various projects that include training, calibration of equipment in hospital institutions, risk assessment of incorporation at the national level and development of a radiological surveillance guide as basis for implementing the programs. The summit of all these efforts and the most effective way to verify its usefulness was the performance of an Intercomparison Exercise on Measured Thyroid Activity and Committed Effective Dose due to the Incorporation of ¹³¹I in the Nuclear Medicine Departments of the country. Three of the main institutions in which the aforementioned radionuclide is used participated in the exercise. The results obtained were satisfactory, demonstrating the existing progress on the subject and pointing out the areas where it is necessary to focus efforts to correct deficiencies.