Assessment of the radiological protection conditions of a clinical unit of Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

In this paper, a review of the physical foundations, methods and data reported by international authorities and research groups regarding the radiological protection conditions of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) installation is made. The purpose was to examine the distribution of controlled and supervised areas, procedures to minimize the risk of radioactive contamination, structural shielding, shielding of personalized accessories for patient and worker, calculation of doses in patients, occupationally exposed workers and public with the In order to evaluate that they do not exceed the effective allowable doses. The shields present special changes with respect to other diagnostic techniques because the radiation present is of higher energy. An important characteristic of the problem is the fact that the patient is given a radiopharmaceutical, becoming a constant source of radiation throughout the clinical procedure, emitting gamma photons of annihilation of 0.511 MeV, for this reason analysis is necessary of isolation times during treatments. (author)