Trends in occupational radiation exposure related to facility-synthesised pet radiopharmeceuticals at a university health center in Kaunas, Lithuania

The demand for more radiological diagnostic procedures in nuclear medicine departments is rapidly increasing alongside the expanding indications for positron emission tomography (PET). During 2024, about 2000 PET exams were performed at the Hospital of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences - Kauno Klinikos. PET imaging requires short half-life positron emitters bound to specific molecules, which may either indicate the level of glucose metabolism within tumor cells (18F-FDG) or bind to tumor-specific receptors, located in prostate (68Ga-PSMA) or neuroendocrine ( 68Ga-DOTATATE) organs and tissues. In Q3 2024, studies using 68Ga-PSMA and -DOTATATE were introduced, also at the end of Q1 2025 in-house production of 18F-FDG was launched in the country’s first cyclotron. This highlighted the need to access the potential increase in occupational exposure, particularly among radiochemists, who work in the 18F-FDG synthesis laboratory or perform elution and radiolabeling of 68Ga. The aim of this study was to evaluate the equivalent dose for lens of the eye Hp(3) and hands Hp(0.07), as well as the effective whole body dose Hp(10), measured by thermoluminescent, opticallystimulated luminescence (OSL) and electronic dosimeters. The acquired exposure data were compared with data from the previous quarter in order to determine the effect of these new procedures on occupational exposure of the personnel working in the department.