Estimation of Whole Body Radiation Exposure to Nuclear Medicine Personnel During Synthesis of (177)Lutetium-labeled Radiopharmaceuticals

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: With rapid development in the field of nuclear medicine therapy, radiation safety of the personnel involved in synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals has become imperative. Few studies have been done on estimating the radiation exposure of personnel involved in the radio labeling of (177)Lu-compounds in western countries. However, data from the Indian subcontinent are limited. We have estimated whole body radiation exposure to the radiopharmacist involved in the labeling of: (177)Lu-DOTATATE, (177)Lu-PSMA-617, and (177)Lu-EDTMP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Background radiation was measured by keeping a pocket dosimeter around the workbench when no radioactive work was conducted. The same pocket dosimeter was given to the radiopharmacist performing the labeling of (177)Lu-compounds. All radiopharmaceuticals were synthesized by the same radiopharmacist with 3, 1 and 3 year experience, respectively, in radiolabeling the above compounds. RESULTS: One Curie (1 Ci) of (177)Lu was received fortnightly by our department. Data were collected for 12 syntheses of (177)Lu-DOTATATE, 8 syntheses of (177)Lu-PSMA-617, and 3 syntheses of (177)Lu-EDTMP. Mean time required to complete the synthesis was 0.81, 0.65, and 0.58 h, respectively. Mean whole body radiation exposure was 0.023 ± 0.01 mSv, 0.01 ± 0.002 mSv, and 0.002 ± 0.0006 mSv, respectively. Overall mean radiation dose for all the three (177)Lu-compounds was 0.014 mSv. Highest exposure was obtained during the synthesis of (177)Lu-DOTATATE. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the manual radiolabeling of (177)Lu compounds is safe, and the whole body radiation exposure to the involved personnel is well within prescribed limits.