Preface

Article Outline

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Over the years, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), referred to below as ‘the Commission’, has issued many reports providing advice on radiological protection and safety in medicine (ICRP Publication 105 is a general overview of this area). These reports summarise the general principles of radiation protection, and provide advice on the application of these principles to the various uses of ionising radiation in medicine and biomedical research.

Most of these reports are of a general nature, and the Commission wishes to address some specific situations where difficulties have been observed. It is desirable that reports on such problem areas be written in a style which is accessible to those who may be directly concerned in their daily work, and that every effort is taken to ensure wide circulation of such reports.

A first step in this direction was taken at the Commission’s meeting in Oxford, UK in September 1997. At that time, on the recommendation of ICRP Committee 3, the Commission established several Task Groups to produce reports on topical issues in medical radiation protection.

Several such reports have already appeared in print ([ICRP, 2000a], [ICRP, 2000b], [ICRP, 2004a], [ICRP, 2004b], [ICRP, 2005a], [ICRP, 2005b], [ICRP, 2007a], [ICRP, 2001], [ICRP, 2007b]). The present report continues this series of concise and focused documents, and several more advisory reports are being prepared. [ICRP, 2000a], [ICRP, 2000b], [ICRP, 2000c], [ICRP, 2000d], dealt with the prevention of accidental exposure of radiation therapy patients. That report contained the lessons learned from real case histories of major accidental exposures, and provided recommendations to prevent re-occurrence. Most of these lessons stemmed from conventional radiation therapy, and little mention was made of newer technologies.

From the time of ICRP Publication 86 to date, a number of reports on events that have occurred with new technologies have become available. In addition, considerable progress has been made in prospective methods of anticipating what else can happen. At their meeting in Berlin, Germany in October 2007, the Commission launched a Task Group on Preventing Accidental Exposure with New Technologies in Radiation Therapy. Its terms of reference were to re-evaluate which lessons from conventional techniques are still applicable, and to review available reports on case histories with new technologies, as well as prospective methods of prevention.

The membership of the Task Group was as follows:

The corresponding members were:

The Task Group met in Paris in June 2008 and prepared an advanced draft, which was approved by Committee 3 in September 2008 and by the Main Commission in October 2008 for its customary public consultation via the Internet. Numerous helpful comments from this consultation have greatly contributed to the final version of the report.

The membership of Committee 3 during the period of preparation of this report was:

This report aims to serve the purposes described above. In order to be as useful as possible for those purposes, its style differs in a few respects from the usual style of the Commission’s publications in the Annals of the ICRP.

The report was approved for publication by the Commission in September 2009.

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References 

1. ICRP, 2000a. Pregnancy and medical radiation. ICRP Publication 84. Ann. ICRP 30 (1).
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2. ICRP, 2000b. Avoidance of radiation injuries from medical interventional procedures. ICRP Publication 85. Ann. ICRP 30 (2).
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3. ICRP, 2000c. Prevention of accidental exposures to patients undergoing radiation therapy. ICRP Publication 86. Ann. ICRP 30 (3).
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4. ICRP, 2000d. Managing patient dose in computed tomography. ICRP Publication 87. Ann. ICRP 30 (4).
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5. ICRP, 2001. Radiation and your patient: a guide for medical practitioners. ICRP Supporting Guidance 2. Ann. ICRP 31 (4).
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6. ICRP, 2004a. Managing patient dose in digital radiology. ICRP Publication 93. Ann. ICRP 34 (1).
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7. ICRP, 2004b. Release of patients after therapy with unsealed radionuclides. ICRP Publication 94. Ann. ICRP 34 (2).
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8. ICRP, 2005a. Prevention of high-dose-rate brachytherapy accidents. ICRP Publication 97. Ann. ICRP 35 (2).
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9. ICRP, 2005b. Radiation safety aspects of brachytherapy for prostate cancer using permanently implanted sources. ICRP Publication 98. Ann. ICRP 35 (3).
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10. ICRP, 2007a. Managing patient dose in multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). ICRP Publication 102. Ann. ICRP 37 (1).
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11. ICRP, 2007b. Radiological Protection in Medicine. ICRP Publication 105. Ann. ICRP 37 (6).
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