Book III: Health protection and the environment

For external radiotherapy, brachytherapy and internal vectorised radiotherapy, exposure of the tissues and organs targeted by the radiation is assessed and planned on a case-by-case basis, keeping the doses received by organs and tissues other than those directly targeted by the radiation to the lowest possible level while achieving the therapeutic objective of the exposure. The implementation of the exposure is controlled at each stage of the exposure as part…

In the context of research involving humans, when a participant voluntarily agrees to undergo a medical procedure using ionising radiation, the dose or activity levels administered are established on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the research protocol prior to exposure.

Before and after a nuclear medicine procedure for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes or a brachytherapy procedure using permanent implants, the person carrying out the procedure must provide the patient, his or her legal representative in the case of a minor, or, in the case of an adult subject to a legal protection measure with representation relating to the person, to the person in charge of the measure, appropriate oral and…

The principle of optimisation is applied to exposures likely to be received by people involved in supporting and comforting patients. A dose constraint is established, where necessary, by the person performing the procedure to avoid excessive exposure of these people, taking into account the recommendations of good professional practice.

In his report, the person performing the procedure must indicate the information on the basis of which he considered the procedure justified and the information relating to the patient’s exposure, in particular the procedures performed and any information useful for estimating the dose received by the patient.

The average exposure of the population to ionising radiation from medical diagnostic procedures, by imaging modality, anatomical region, age and sex, is estimated and analysed periodically by the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire and is the subject of a public report that can be consulted on the Institute’s website.