Controversies and Safety in Radiotherapy- A Short Review

Abstract

Nuclear medicine's development during the last 50 years illustrates a significant relationship between government investments in research and technology and breakthroughs in health care in the United States and throughout the world. As a result of these efforts, novel nuclear medicine methods have been created that may non-invasively detect illnesses, provide information that other imaging technologies cannot provide, and administer tailored therapies. In the United States alone, almost 20 million nuclear medicine treatments including radiopharmaceuticals and imaging equipment are performed each year. Overall, the use of nuclear medicine procedures is increasing rapidly, particularly as new imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) improve the accuracy of disease detection, localization, and characterization, and as cyclotron automation and miniaturization, as well as advances in radiochemistry, make radiotracer production more practical. Besides that, this paper summarizes the safety issues from the radiographer’s perspective. While radiology departments have the potential to present harmful consequences owing to ionizing radiations,

play a vital role in ensuring safe working conditions in these environments.