Layout specifications and practical recommendations for machine rooms and wards in nuclear medicine departments based on radiation protection

With the continuous expansion of clinical application scenarios for nuclear medicine diagnosis and treatment and the sustained increase in policy support, clinical requirements and relevant standards for the machine rooms and wards of nuclear medicine departments have been increasingly raised. It is highly essential to construct standardized and practical machine rooms for radionuclide examinations and wards for radionuclide therapy, which is crucial for the standardized operation of nuclear medicine departments. In the process of nuclear medicine diagnosis and treatment, a variety of radionuclide-labeled drugs are involved, which are mainly in the form of non-volatile solutions or colloids. Staff adherence to basic operating procedures and good practices can significantly reduce their internal radiation exposure risk, while adequate attention should also be paid to external radiation protection. Based on the publications from the International Commission on Radiological Protection and the relevant Chinese documents, the authors explore the layout design of machine rooms for radionuclide examination and wards for radionuclide therapy from the perspective of radiation protection, aiming to improve the safety and work efficiency of nuclear medicine diagnosis and treatment and provide a reference for the standardized construction of nuclear medicine departments in hospitals.