MEHRAN UNIVERSITY OF
NUCLEAR INTITUTE OF
ENGINEERING AND
MEDDICINE AND ATOMIC
TECHNOLOGY JAMSHORO
RADIOTHERAPY JAMSHORO
TO GET FAMILIAR WITH HOT
LAB
SUBMITTED BY TAYYABA KEERIO
SUBMITTED TO SIR ASRAR
DATE
: 21/7/2022
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Contents
ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 1 ..............................................................................................................5
1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................5
1. Significance of Radionuclides in Nuclear Imaging .............................................6
2. Equipment Used in Hot Labs...............................................................................8
3. Risks Associated with Hot Labs ..........................................................................8
4. General Rules for Safe Handling of Radioactive Materials in Hot Labs ............9
5. REFERENCES ....................................................................................................9
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ABSTRACT
"Hot labs" are created to receive, store, and prepare radioactive
materials. Radionuclides such as xenon, iodine, gallium,
thallium, and technetium are employed. Nuclear imaging
examines the functionality of organs and tissues using a very
tiny quantity of radioactivity.
In a nuclear scan, radiation emitted by the radionuclide inside
the body is measured and catalogued. Different issues, such as
cysts, organ enlargement, hematomas, infections, or tumors, can
be evaluated and identified by observing the behavior in the
body during nuclear imaging.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I am thankful to Allah, who gave me the
strength and ability to complete my report. I would like to
express my sincere gratitude towards my supervisor Dr Asrar
Ahmed and operators Sir Mehran who guided me throughout
the journey of my internship.
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CHAPTER 1
1. INTRODUCTION
The areas of nuclear
medicine facilities known
as "hot labs" have been
especially created to
receive, store, and prepare
radioactive
materials
needed for radiotherapy
and diagnostic imaging.
FIGURE 1. NUCLEARMEDICINE HOT LAB
Nuclear
medicine
technologists
prepare
radionuclides
and/or
radiopharmaceuticals in hot laboratories. In hot laboratories,
the molybdenum-technetium 99Mo/99mTc-generator serves as
the main source for producing radionuclides needed for nuclear
medicine applications. Nuclear imaging basically examines the
functionality of organs and tissues using a very tiny quantity of
radioactivity.
Depending on the area of the body being studied and the sort
of study being conducted, various radionuclides such as xenon,
iodine, gallium, thallium, and technetium are employed. For
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example, radioactive substances like Tc-99m oxidronate
hydroxydiphosphonate (HDP) and I-131 sodium iodide
capsules are made in hot laboratories and utilized in nuclear
imaging to measure the thyroid's function and osteogenic
activity, respectively.
1. Significance of Radionuclides in Nuclear
Imaging
A
radiation
detector, such as a
gamma camera, is
used to detect the
radiation released
by the radionuclide
after it has been
absorbed by the
body tissue or
organ.
When
a Figure 2. Bone scan using 740mBq of 99mTc
Md gamma camera examination reveals abnormal
radiation
detector increase
starts picking up
radiation, a computer will generate and store digital signals.
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Different issues, such as cysts, organ enlargement, hematomas,
infections, or tumors, can be evaluated and identified by
observing the radionuclide behavior in the body during nuclear
imaging. In a nuclear scan, the areas that more heavily absorbed
the radionuclide are known as hot spots because they look bright
in the picture, whereas the areas that do not absorb radionuclide
are known as cold spots because they appear less light. Axial
slices of the body portion being imaged are produced by singlephoton emission computerized tomography (SPECT) while the
gamma camera revolves around the subject.
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2. Equipment Used in Hot Labs
A nuclear medicine hot lab package typically contains a dose
calibrator, 5 microcuries cobalt-57 vial source, and 200
microcuries cesium-137 vial source for dose calibrator quality
control (QC), wipe test counter, survey meter with pancake probe,
0.5 microcuries nominal cesium-137 rod source for wipe test
counter QC, bar phantom and flood source for gamma camera
QC, lead-lined cabinets and bricks, 5 and 3 cubic capacity syringe
shields, 10-inch curved forceps, lead-lined sharps shields and
containers, waste containers, and syringe carriers.
Other major pieces of equipment in a hot lab package include
decontamination soaps, sprays, and kit, injection stand/injection
chair, step stool, leg rest/knee bolsters, arm support for SPECT
cardiac imaging, intravenous therapy stand, and a number of signs
cautioning about radiation and the presence of radioactive
materials in the lab and prohibiting eating/drinking and entry of
pregnant women in the lab.
3. Risks Associated with Hot Labs
Leakage of radioactive materials and exposure to radiation are the
most common and significant risks associated with hot labs.
Specifically, the contamination of radioactive materials in the
body through inhalation, absorption, and ingestion can lead to
acute health complications. Apart from these risks, smoke and
fire, physical damages to the structure that is housing the lab, and
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natural disasters such as earthquakes also represent other risks to
hot labs.
4. General
Rules
for
Safe
Handling
of
Radioactive Materials in Hot Labs
Only sealed radioactive materials should be taken out of a hot lab
to prevent transmission of radioactivity outside of it. The
laboratory work area must be surveyed to check the
contamination levels either at the end of the day or after each
procedure. The area should be decontaminated if the radioactive
contamination is very high.
Additionally, radioactive waste should be disposed of in properly
shielded receptacles such as sharps containers. Radioactive
materials must be stored in clearly labeled containers where the
labels indicate the name of the radionuclide. Moreover,
radioactive materials must be stored in locked cabinets.
5. REFERENCES

Dam,
S.
(2022,
April
26).
What
are
Hot
Labs?
AZoM.Com.
https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=21622#:%7E:text=Hot%20labs%20are%20the%20roo
ms,labs%20by%20nuclear%20medicine%20technologists.

Malik, A., Setiawan, A., Suhandi, A., Permanasari, A., Samsudin, A., Dirgantara, Y., Suhendi, H. Y.,
Sari, I. M., & Hermita, N. (2019). The development of higher order thinking laboratory (hotlab) model
related to heat transfer topic. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1204, 012060.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1204/1/012060
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