Nuclear medicine and medical ionising radiation

Nuclear medicine is a specialised area of radiology. It covers many diagnostic, evaluation, and treatment procedures for various conditions such as cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal and endocrine disorders. It involves radiation and the use of radioactive material (a radionuclide), combined with a carrier molecule. This procedure detects diseases, targets treatment and monitors recovery. 

Radiopharmacy departments of facilities and nuclear medicine departments are commonplace in many hospitals and medical centres. These facilities should strictly control the storage, use, and disposal of radioactive material. TÜV SÜD is uniquely qualified to assess all of these thanks to our long history in both the nuclear and medical sectors.

Protecting and monitoring staff, patients and the treatment environment is a priority for every medical operator. This makes it vital that operators control how they store, use and dispose radioactive material. A trusted third party such as TÜV SÜD can provide medical and nuclear experts who thoroughly assess hospital radiopharmacy departments or facilities, radiotherapy facilities, and nuclear medicine departments.

TÜV SÜD can help identify and mitigate nuclear medicine risks resulting from uses of ionising radiation and advise you on protecting your employees from overexposure to radiation. This is based on industry best practices, such as establishing and following procedures, routine monitoring and specialist training.

TÜV SÜD’s years of experience means you can take advantage of our expert knowhow to plan or improve your radio pharmacy facilities. You can also demonstrate safe, documented compliance to radioactive waste disposal regulations.

Specifying and assessing the design of radio pharmaceutical facilities 

Hospitals and medical centres need to carefully locate their radio pharmacies and nuclear medicine departments and design them to suit the needs of the organisation and meet local regulations. careful optimisation of the floor plan can reduce exposure by shielding the laboratory and patients, preventing cross-contamination, and allowing for efficient cleaning and maintenance. This will protect your staff, patients, and the environment.

By designating treatment and imaging rooms and laboratories that typically use radioactive materials as “controlled areas”, you can limit access to authorised personnel, ensuring that only staff trained in radiation protection can enter. This also helps you monitor the time they stay to minimise exposure over a day.

TÜV SÜD has a team of specialist shield testers with experience of testing over 100 radiation treatment rooms. These include X-ray rooms, LINAC bunkers, PET Cyclotrons and Brachytherapy suites.

Choosing specialist equipment 

Any equipment provided in a radio pharmacy or laboratory, such as mobile or fixed lead barriers, shielded containers, radiation and contamination monitors, fume cupboards and biohazard cabinets, must be specifically designed for the purpose. Your staff should check and maintain all equipment regularly for compliance.

And of course, workers who handle radioactive materials should wear specialist clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) in controlled areas. You should also have procedures in place that ensure laboratory coats, protective gloves and face masks are disposed of before staff leaving designated areas to avoid the possibility of cross contamination.

TÜV SÜD experts will assess your facilities to ensure that they satisfy all of the above conditions and minimise nuclear medicine risks.

Dealing with radioactive clinical waste

Radioactive medical waste is typically classified as low-level waste, as the concentration of radionuclides is usually low. It comes in many forms – from used medical equipment to clothing and biological waste. You should collect it separately in clearly marked receptacles, with separate containers for radioactive sharps/needles and biowaste.

Only trained personnel should secure and remove radioactive waste. As many radioisotopes have half-lives of less than 90 days, you may wish to consider storing the material on-site if you have suitable facilities until radiation levels decline further. Alternatively, you could store and dispose them off-site in approved low-level waste landfills.

Once again, our team will ensure that your radioactive waste storage and disposal procedures fulfil all these criteria.