INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Kathmandu, June 22 Bir Hospital shut down its CT scan service yesterday after radiation was found leaking from its highly shielded room. The

hospital has closed its services upon the recommendation of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology as a monitoring team from NAST found

higher level of radiation in areas around the CT scan room

It has suggested that the hospital adopt protection measures against radiation leakage

The hospital had fixed a new CT scan machine six months ago. Immediate exposure to high level of radiation will harm blood and skin cells

Effect of radiation on gonads, one of the reproductive organs in a male or female can lead to birth defects in babies, said Dan Bahadur

Karki, president of Nepal Radiologist Association. Skin burns can occur when exposed to higher level of radiation

A long term exposure to radiation could result in cancer and cardiovascular diseases

The early symptoms of sickness from radiation are nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Radiation leakages can occur in hospitals due to defects

in X-ray machines or when proper shielding of the X-ray room is not maintained

To prevent radiation leakage lead shielding is necessary, said Buddha R Shah, a senior scientist at Physical Science Laboratory, Faculty of

Science, NAST. The hospital is unsure of resuming the services any time soon as it lacks enough budget for repair and maintenance of the CT

scan room

&It costs around 20-25 lakh to maintain the room

We don&t have enough budget

It takes two to three months for any maintenance work at the hospital incurring a cost of above Rs five lakh as the hospital administration

has to go through a tender process,& said Kedar Century, director at the hospital. We are looking for alternatives and are considering

moving the machine to a room that has an old CT scan machine

If this is done, the CT scan service can be resumed after a week, according to Century. At least 70 patients benefit from CT scan service at

the hospital on a daily basis

A CT scan service costs around 2,500 to 4,500 depending on the type of scan. The monitoring team on June 17 had concluded that the level of

radiation was ten times higher than the background level

It was found to be 2.12 microsievert per hour on the console room — main room of the CT scan, which contains a computer display and a

keyboard that control the scanner

The monitoring was done on the window lead glass of the CT scan room. It had also detected 1.02 microsievert per hour of radiation in the

room — one metre away from the window lead glass

The team had also recorded high level of radiation at the entrance lead door and in the waiting room

&Protection is required whenever the leaked radiation is ten times higher than the background level

The body concerned should increase the thickness of lead

They should properly shield the door,& said Shah. The team had monitored the area upon the request of the hospital after a leakage was

suspected. According to Safety Standards Occupational Radiation Protection, the safety guide of International Atomic Energy Agency, for

occupational exposure of workers over the age of 18 years, radiation dose limit is 20 millisieverts per year for over five consecutive years

(100 mSv in 5 years) and 50 mSv in any single year. &For the public, the minimum permissible level of radiation absorption is 1 millisievert

per year,& said Karki. Radiation is measured using the unit sievert, which quantifies the amount of radiation absorbed by human tissues

One sievert is equivalent to 1,000 millisieverts (mSv) and one millisievert is equivalent to 1,000 microsieverts. &Lead glasses are

necessary to seal the passage of radiation. The lead door of a CT scan room should always be closed,& said Karki

There is no proper monitoring mechanism for the leakage of radiation at hospitals. Hospitals have been approaching NAST to monitor radiation

level at their own

To track leakages in a CT scan room, NAST has been providing thermoluminescent dosimeter — a tool used for assessment by ionising

radiation. &If there is a higher reading in the tool then we try to find out the causes of increased radiation level

It helps to monitor the leakage from CT scan and X-ray machines, explained Shah. The government should make it mandatory for hospitals to

monitor such leakage on a regular basis, said Karki. The post CT scan service shut following radiation leak appeared first on The Himalayan

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