• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.94-98
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• 2011

Purpose: The radiation exposure from radioisotope at the hands and foots of radiation workers who works in PET/CT part at the department of nuclear medicine was investigated in this study. Materials and Methods: From 4th August 2010 to 14th January 2011, 6 radio-technologists' radiation on hands and feet were measured. All radio-technologist have been examined around 8; morning, 12; afternoon, and 16 o'clock; evening, respectively. SPSS version 17 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The statistical significances were calculated in several ways. The radiation from both hands and feet in the Morning was lower than Afternoon and Evening. In some cases, the detected radiation showed extremely high values in data. In order to find the effect of the ${\gamma}$-ray on the hand, the estimated doses were presumably calculated, however, the exposure dose on feet were unmeasured. Conclusion: Even if the radiation exposure from the radioisotope at the hands and feet were under the limitations, it is definitely needs to prevent the radiation-contamination. Therefore, the radio-technologists need to have a proper radiation-dealing-procedure of their own, and must try to prevent a radiation exposure by themselves.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 1997

Theoretical and experimental determination of the lower limits of detection (LLD) of C-300-A $CaSO_4$:Dy TL dosimeters which are currently used for the personnel monitoring in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI) are described with a critical level which is defined as the signal level above which a result has a probability of being due to a fluctuation of the background. The personnel monitoring processors can derived easily the LLD of their system using this method with the background readings of their service interval and the irradiation readings of the known doses. Experimental studies were also conducted for the fading rates of the dosimeters with the temperatures and humidities for 3 months. Finally sensitivity changes in repeat uses were measured for 40 times consecutive uses of the dosimeters. The applications of the experimental results of fading rates and sensitivity changes in real personnel monitoring services are discussed briefly.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.263-272
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• 1997

A Radiation Alarm Monitor has been developed and manufactured in order to protect radiation workers from over-exposure. A visual and audible alarm system has been attached to initiate evacuation when accident occurs such as an unexpected change of radiation level or an over-exposure. The Radiation Alarm Monitor installed with microprocessor can record the information of radiation field change between 90 min. before the alarm and 30 min. after the alarm and also provide the data to an IBM compatible computer to analyze the accidents and to set a counterplan. It features a wide detection range of radiation field(10 mR/h-100 R/h), radiation field data storage, portability, high precision (${\pm}5%$) due to self-calibration function, and adaption of a powerful alarm system. According to ANSI N42.17A, the most stringent test standards, performance tests were carried out under various conditions of temperature, humidity, vibration, and electromagnetic wave hindrance at Korea Research Institute of Standards & Science (KRISS). As a result, the Radiation Alarm Monitor passed all tests.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.97-124
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• 2021

In medical institutions, there are radiation-related workers such as radiological technologists, physicians, dentists, and dental hygienists who handle diagnostic radiation generators. Also, there are work assistants, such as nurses and assistant nurses, who assist in radiation treatment or transfer patients to the radiation examination room. Radiation exposure management for radiation-related workers is carried out under the 「Medical Service Act」, but there is no legal basis for work assistants, etc. And the management of radiation exposure for diagnosis is regulated by the 「Medical Service Act」, and the management of radiation exposure by therapeutic radiation and nuclear medical examination is governed by the 「Nuclear Safety Act」. Thus, to improve the management of radiation exposure for diagnosis, the regulations on radiation exposure management for diagnosis under the 「Medical Service Act」 were compared and reviewed with those of the 「Nuclear Safety Act」. As a result, the main contents are as follows. First, it is necessary to legislate to include nurses, assistant nurses, and clinical practice students who are likely to be exposed to radiation besides radiationrelated workers as subjects of radiation exposure management for diagnosis. Second, when a radiation-related worker for diagnosis is confirmed to be pregnant, the exposure dose limit should be defined. Third, it is necessary to revise the regulations on the types of personal exposure dosimeters in the 「Rules on the Safety Management of Radiation Generators for Diagnostics」. Fourth, it seems that health examination items for radiation-related workers, radiation workers, and frequent visitors should be the same. Fifth, It is necessary to unify and regulate diagnostic radiation and all medical radiation, including therapeutic radiation and nuclear medicine, in one legal system.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.251-257
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• 1998

A diffusion model of radioactive gaseous effluents is improved to apply for domestic nuclear power plants. Up to now, XOQDOQ computer code package developed by U. S NRC has been used for the assessment of radioactive plume dispersion by normal operation of domestic nuclear power plants. XOQDOQ adopts the straight-line Gaussian plume model which was basically derived for the plane terrain. However, since there are so many mountains in Korea, the several shortcomings of XOQDOQ are improved to consider the complex terrain effects. In this work, wind direction change is considered by modifying the wind rose frequency using meteorological data of the local weather stations. In addition, an effective height correction model, a plume reduction model due to plume penetration into mountain, and a wet deposition model are adopted for more realistic assessments. The proposed methodology is implemented in Yongkwang nuclear power plants, and can be used for other domestic nuclear power plants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.223-229
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• 2011

When negative electron in x-ray tube is accelerated in to a high speed and then the currency of the electron is blocked by the target, x-ray happens by the conversion of the energy. The real area where the fast accelerated electron collides to a target area is called actual focal spot. When the string focused size is observed at the central ray side, where the direction x-ray comes out, the size seems to be reduced. This focus is called effective focal spot. According to radiation angle of x-rays tube, the degree of the negative pole side presents higher value than inclination, the amount of exposed radiation that patient receives differs by the angle of positive pole, which means effective focal spot is the variable. This paper presents the correlation between size of effective focal spot and amount of exposed radiation to the patient by it, and effective research for homogenized dose dispersion by the size of effective focal spot. In conclusion, following the focal size, effective range which was -8cm ~ 0 cm on average, was found and average dose rate was 0.019 R/min. Through this range, for patients with small radiation exposure, image with good density and resolution in aspect of diagnosing will be able to be obtained.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.385-392
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the image quality and exposure dose according to kVp and mAs in CT and to confirm improvement in image quality according to None IR and IR(Iterative Reconstruction) levels. Measurement results of image quality using Image J, HU(Hounsfield units) and BN(Background Noise) are decreased, while SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) and $CTDI_{vol}$(CT dose index volume) are increased as the kVp increases and there was no change of BHU(Background Hounsfield units). BN was reduced due to increased kVp, while SNR and $CTDI_{vol}$ were increased. Also, the higher IR stage, the lower BN, SI(Signal Intensity) and HU while SNR was improved by about 10~60%. Based on this, when applying IR for clinical applications, it is necessary to finely adjust kVp and mA with a phased approach.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.23-34
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• 2007

To find how much radiation was exposed the patients who visit emergency room, a measurement study was made for radiation amount toward 200 patients selected randomly among visitors to an emergency room in a university hospital from March 16 to 31st, 2006. The results are as follows ; 1. Among the subjects 50 person(25.0%) were transferred from other hospitals, 24 persons(8.3) come after traffic accident, 50 persons for other accident and 76 persons for general medical care. 2. The average frequency of X-ray taking was calculated as 6.4 time per person among transferred patients, 14.5 times per person among patients with traffic accident and 2.6 times per person among general medical care. 3. The radiation exposure amount by kind of X-ray showed 28.9mGyfor general X-ray diagnosis, 84.2mGy for CT scanning and 1.02mGy for other special radiation study. 4. Average radiation exposure amount was calculated as 24.6mGy by transferred patients, 55.2mGy by patients with traffic accident, 17.1mGy by patients with other accidents and 17.0mGy by general patients. 5. Through the comparison of radiation exposure amount among to subject with maximum allowance threshold by International Commission on X-ray Radium Protection, transferred patients exceeded 6 times than allowance in whole body except extremities and joints, blood forming organ, reproductive system, vitreous body of eye, bone, thyroid gland, skin and etc, Patient suffered from traffic accidents were exposed 10 times more than allowance. In conclusion, the radiation exposure amount during X-rat diagnosis re too much and exceeded allowance standard by International Commission on X-ray Radium Protection. So further study and preventive measure to decrease radiation exposure by patients who visit emergency room.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.957-964
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• 2021

Fluorine-18 used in PET/CT scans is a radioactive isotope that emits positrons, and high energy annihilation gamma rays and beta rays cause exposure to radiation workers. In this study, as part of a plan to reduce the exposure dose of radiation workers working in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, the cause of the low shielding efficiency of Apron for F-18 was identified, and the effectiveness of the Apron double-shielded with acrylic was evaluated. L-Block, Apron+acrylic, Apron, Acrylic+Apron, and Acrylic five shields are used to measure the dose, and the tendencies were compared by performing a Monte Carlo simulation. As a result, it was found that the shielding rate of Apron double shielded with acrylic was about 4 to 8% higher than that of Apron single shielded. To the extent that it does not significantly affect the user's activity, double-shielded personal protective clothing with an appropriate acrylic thickness could help reduce radiation workers' exposure.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.32-36
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• 2016

Purpose In nuclear medicine examination, $^{131}I$ is widely used in nuclear medicine examination such as diagnosis, treatment, and others of thyroid cancer and other diseases. $^{131}I$ conducts examination and treatment through emission of ${\gamma}$ ray and ${\beta}^-$ ray. Since $^{131}I$ (364 keV) contains more energy compared to $^{99m}Tc$ (140 keV) although it displays high integrated rate and enables quick discharge through kidney, the objective of this study lies in comparing the difference in exposure dose of $^{131}I$ before and after wearing apron when handling $^{131}I$ with focus on 3 elements of external exposure protection that are distance, time, and shield in order to reduce the exposure to technicians in comparison with $^{99m}Tc$ during the handling and administration process. When wearing apron (in general, Pb 0.5 mm), $^{99m}Tc$ presents shield of over 90% but shielding effect of $^{131}I$ is relatively low as it is of high energy and there may be even more exposure due to influence of scattered ray (secondary) and bremsstrahlung in case of high dose. However, there is no special report or guideline for low dose (74 MBq) high energy thus quantitative analysis on exposure dose of technicians will be conducted based on apron wearing during the handling of $^{131}I$. Materials and Methods With patients who visited Department of Nuclear Medicine of our hospital for low dose $^{131}I$ administration for thyroid cancer and diagnosis for 7 months from Jun 2014 to Dec 2014 as its subject, total 6 pieces of TLD was attached to interior and exterior of apron placed on thyroid, chest, and testicle from preparation to administration. Then, radiation exposure dose from $^{131}I$ examination to administration was measured. Total procedure time was set as within 5 min per person including 3 min of explanation, 1 min of distribution, and 1 min of administration. In regards to TLD location selection, chest at which exposure dose is generally measured and thyroid and testicle with high sensitivity were selected. For preparation, 74 MBq of $^{131}I$ shall be distributed with the use of $2m{\ell}$ syringe and then it shall be distributed after making it into dose of $2m{\ell}$ though dilution with normal saline. When distributing $^{131}I$ and administering it to the patient, $100m{\ell}$ of water shall be put into a cup, distributed $^{131}I$ shall be diluted, and then oral administration to patients shall be conducted with the distance of 1m from the patient. The process of withdrawing $2m{\ell}$ syringe and cup used for oral administration was conducted while wearing apron and TLD. Apron and TLD were stored at storage room without influence of radiation exposure and the exposure dose was measured with request to Seoul Radiology Services. Results With the result of monthly accumulated exposure dose of TLD worn inside and outside of apron placed on thyroid, chest, and testicle during low dose $^{131}I$ examination during the research period divided by number of people, statistics processing was conducted with Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test using SPSS Version. 12.0K. As a result, it was revealed that there was no significant difference since all of thyroid (p = 0.345), chest (p = 0.686), and testicle (p = 0.715) were presented to be p > 0.05. Also, when converting the change in total exposure dose during research period into percentage, it was revealed to be -23.5%, -8.3%, and 19.0% for thyroid, chest, and testicle respectively. Conclusion As a result of conducting Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, it was revealed that there is no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). Also, in case of calculating shielding rate with accumulate exposure dose during 7 months, it was revealed that there is irregular change in exposure dose for inside and outside of apron. Although the degree of change seems to be high when it is expressed in percentage, it cannot be considered a big change since the unit of accumulated exposure dose is in decimal points. Therefore, regardless of wearing apron during high energy low dose $^{131}I$ administration, placing certain distance and terminating the administration as soon as possible would be of great assistance in reducing the exposure dose. Although this study restricted $^{131}I$ administration time to be within 5 min per person and distance for oral administration to be 1m, there was a shortcoming to acquire accurate result as there was insufficient number of N for statistics and it could be processed only through non-parametric method. Also, exposure dose per person during lose dose $^{131}I$ administration was measured with accumulated exposure dose using TLD rather than through direct-reading exposure dose thus more accurate result could be acquired when measurement is conducted using electronic dosimeter and pocket dosimeter.