Radiological Justification for and Optimization of Nuclear Medicine Practices in Korea

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.