CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- With the improvement of modern medical level, radiopharmaceutical therapy and diagnostic imaging have been popularized. These technologies greatly increase the likelihood of healing. However, the medical workers are exposed to high-energy radiation for years. The staff members of Nuclear Medicine Department of Chongqing University Cancer Hospital are the part of these workers. These medical workers never care about the radiation they are exposed to. Their only purpose is to save people. They are the “Men in Lead Apron” fight in intensely radiative environment.

It was December 18. Doctor Tang Senlin’s work place is on the basement level of Nuclear Medicine Department of Chongqing University Cancer Hospital. Leap apron, collar and cap…The first thing that Tang does every day is to wear the heavy protective clothing. He has been working here for 5 years and it has become the norm to wear the lead apron (about 10kg) at work every day.

“It’s old-style. The new apron is sleeved,” Tang said. His colleagues think the old-style apron is more conductive to action and more efficient. More importantly, the patients don’t need to wait for long. So, the sleeved apron is less used. But it also means that, the doctors are more greatly exposed to radiation. A surgical gown, a pair of lead apron and a sterile clothing, they feel very smooth and are airtight. Tang said, especially in summer, even in an air-conditioned room, his back iss usually sweaty after taking off the lead apron. 

Iodine-131 and 18F-FDG are two frequently-used drugs in Nuclear Medicine Department. They both could produce gamma ray radiation, which is also generated after nuclear explosion. To minimize the radiation during dispensing, Tang must work behind a heavy lead door, but for flexibility of operation, his hands are still exposed to radiation. “The patients who come to us are all cancer patients with complicated states and severe symptoms.” With respect to long time exposure of his hands to radiation, Tang doesn’t take it seriously. He thinks it is just an ordinary job.

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