How to control person radiation exposure in a cyclotron facility
19 February 2019
Controlling radiation exposure with personal electronic dosimeters
Every day, professionals working in cyclotron facilities within nuclear medicine organisations are faced with the ongoing challenge of managing and limiting exposure to radiation.
Detecting, measuring, and monitoring radiation dose rates with the use of Tracerco’s extended family of personal electronic dosimeters (PEDs) can ensure a safe radiation culture in a cyclotron facility by allowing members of staff to effectively implement and follow best practice solutions. There are three keys steps to maintaining a safe radiation culture:
- Avoid unnecessary radiation exposure
PPE and shielding should always be used as the first form of protection from radiation exposure. This can include lead aprons, glass, screens and lead curtains. Personal dosimeters are also an important part of avoiding unnecessary radiation exposure, as they provide a safe method of measuring and monitoring the dose rate received. Tracerco’s Blue personal electronic dosimeter displays live dose and dose rates on-screen to provide an easy method of determining when and if you need to take action. The stay time feature also provides users with an onscreen notification, detailing the time individuals have left working safely in a particular area before they hit an alarm level. This is an efficient way to ensure you avoid unnecessary exposure.
- Implement good working practices
You can reduce any possible dose uptake when working with radiation with the correct behaviour and working practices. This can include increasing your distance from the source whenever possible, reducing exposure time, and positioning yourself in a low scatter area. The Tracerco PED+ is ideal to assist with this. With wireless access, you can have a live screen readout of dose and accumulated dose rate for up to 7 connected devices. Each PED+ can also be monitored from a safe area with an overview of each connected device shown. This can allow you to concentrate on the job as warnings and advice on dose reduction can be provided whilst you work.
- Monitor and control radiation exposure
In order to minimise radiation exposure, you need to have quick access to reliable dose data in order to provide accurate staff monitoring. This control is made really simple with Tracerco DoseVision™ software. The free of charge software package supplied with the Tracerco PED Family gives you all the data management capability you need to be able to monitor staff, visitors and patients. DoseVision™ Live also provides real-time insight to monitor and control radiation exposure in any environment.