Report No. 073 – Protection in Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound Diagnostic Procedures in Children (1983)

The use of nuclear medicine and ultrasound in pediatric patients has undergone rapid growth in recent years. As in other branches of the radiological sciences, nuclear medicine practice should minimize radiation dose and, consequently, possible biological damage, provided that necessary information desired from the procedure is not diminished. As no significant biological effects from ultrasound diagnostic studies in pediatric patients have been reported, the implications of use must be treated in a more theoretical context. This Report considers the special problems of radiation protection and the biological effects of radiation associated with pediatric nuclear medicine and the biological implications from studies using ultrasound in pediatric patients. Pediatric patients are affected by different diseases from adults and respond in a different manner to illness. Similarly, the implications of any imposed biological burden are different from those in adult patients. NCRP Report No. 68 has considered the biological effects of conventional radiographic studies in pediatric patients (NCRP, 1981).

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Table of Contents
Preface