The Estimation of Annual per Capita Effective Dose from Nuclear Medicine Procedures in Iran

Nuclear medicine is one of the most important diagnostic modalities. The aim of present study was to estimate annual per capita effective dose in most common procedures performed in nuclear medicine centers in Iran in order to provide data for risk estimation due to exposure to ionizing radiation in nuclear medicine. Corresponding data of patients underwent 5 main kinds of nuclear medicine exams in 10 major hospitals in Iran in six year period were used to estimate effective dose and also population dose due to exposure to ionizing radiation in nuclear medicine. Based on the data of this study، the mean effective population dose per caput was 7. 53 micro Sv per year. The mean effective population dose per caput per year is smaller than other countries and generally is similar to average background radiation in the world.