At Hillman Cancer Center, PET/CT patients are injected with 18-F FDG and then rest quietly for 60 minutes to allow FDG uptake prior to scanning. There are two injected patients in the uptake room at the same time. The purpose of this study was to determine if the installation of modular lead uptake shields in the uptake room had measurable effect on  personnell radiation exposure values.

The PET/CT Center at Hillman Cancer was originally designed to scan 20 patients per week. As PET/CT scanning has proved its efficacy, the Center's scanning volume has increased to 17 patients daily. As scanning volume increased, the radiation dose in restricted and unrestricted areas of the facility increased. This dose to unrestricted areas became a limiting factor in providing increased patient access to PET/CT exams. Modular, lead-lined uptake shields, were designed and maunfactured to decrease the exposure to unrestricted areas of the facility. This author has examined the utility of the shields in reducing exposure to staff of the center.

Luxel (Landauer Corp, Glenwood, IL) optically stimulated dosimeters are used by all technologists at the Hillman Cancer Center PET/CT Section. Dosimetry reports for the six month period prior to the installation of the shields were reviewed and the radiation doses summed for all technologists assigned to the Hillman Cancer Center PET/CT scanner. The summed radiation dose was divided by the number of patients scanned during that time period to determine the dose contribution per patient before shielding.

Data from the dosimetry reports for the six months following the installation of the shields was subjected to the same review.

Before the addition of lead shields to the uptake room, per patient radiation exposure was 2.66 mr/patient. After the addition of the modular shields, per patient exposure dropped to 2.23 mr/patient.

The use of modular shielding to control exposure to surrounding unrestricted areas resulted in lowering occupationsl exposure by 15%. 

The modular shields designed by UPMC proved themselves to be an efficient means of reducing  radiation dose in unrestricted areas and to have the secondary benefit of reducing occupational dose.