After the rapid development of medical equipment including CT or PET-CT, radiation doses from medical exposure are now the largest source of man-made radiation exposure. General principles of radiation protection from the hazard of ionizing radiation are summarized as three key words; justification, optimization, and dose limit. Because medical exposure of radiation has unique considerations, diagnostic reference level is generally used as a reference value, instead of dose limits. In Korea, medical radiation exposure has increased rapidly. For medical radiation exposure control, Korea has two separate control systems. Regulation is essential to control medical radiation exposure. Physicians and radiologists must be aware of the radiation risks and benefits associated with medical exposure, and understand and implement the principles of radiation protection for patients. The education of the referring physicians and radiologists is also important.
Guidelines as Topic ; Humans ; International Agencies ; *Occupational Exposure ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radiation Injuries/etiology/prevention & control ; *Radiation Protection ; Radiation, Ionizing ; Radiotherapy Dosage/standards ; Reference Values ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Nuclear medicine is a rapidly growing discipline that employs advanced novel hybrid techniques that provide unique anatomical and functional information, as well as targets for molecular therapy. Concomitantly, there has been an increase in the attention paid to medical radiation exposure. A radiological justification for the practice of nuclear medicine has been implemented mainly through referral guidelines based on research results such as prospective randomized clinical trials. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends diagnostic reference levels as a practical mechanism to optimize medical radiation exposure in order to be commensurate with the medical purpose. The Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine has been implementing radiological optimization through a survey of the protocols on how each hospital determines the dose of administration of each radiopharmaceutical. In the case of nuclear medicine, radiation exposure of caregivers and comforters of patients discharged after administration of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals can occur; therefore, optimization has been implemented through written instructions for patients, based on international recommendations. The development of patient-radiation-dose monitoring software, and a national registry and management system of patient-radiation-dose is needed to implement radiological optimization through diagnostic reference levels. This management system must work in agreement with the "Institute for Quality Management of Nuclear Medicine", and must take into account the medical reality of Korea, such as low medicine fee, in order to implement reasonable radiological justification and optimization.
Humans ; Neoplasms/diagnosis/radiotherapy ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; *Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Radiation Exposure/*standards ; Radiation Protection ; Radiopharmaceuticals/chemistry/therapeutic use ; Reference Values ; Republic of Korea ; Societies, Scientific ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed