Recently, "Novel Medical" shared a series of articles on nuclear medicine solutions, covering the construction process, departmental planning, and site selection. Next, we'll discuss layout design, zone management, and workflows. Stay tuned to explore these insights together!
Zone Management in the Nuclear Medicine Department
The nuclear medicine department needs to manage zones according to relevant regulations and radiation protection requirements, typically divided into controlled areas and supervised areas.
Controlled Area (High Activity Zone): This area in the nuclear medicine department has higher radiation levels and requires special attention and management. Examples include radionuclide therapy wards and post-administration waiting rooms, where there may be direct or indirect contact with radioactive sources.
Supervised Area: This area is not designated as a controlled area and does not require special protective measures or safety means. However, it still needs continuous monitoring of occupational exposure, such as equipment operation rooms and sanitary passage areas.
When zoning in the nuclear medicine department, follow these principles:
a. Separate Controlled and Supervised Areas: Ensure distinct separation between these zones.
b. Align with Medical Workflow: The layout should match the department's workflow.
c. Separate Staff and Patient Paths: Keep pathways and entrances/exits distinct.
d. Centralized Controlled Area: Ideally, concentrate controlled areas together.
Additionally, non-restricted areas such as staff rest areas and reading rooms should also be considered in the actual construction.
Workflow Design in the Nuclear Medicine Department
Under the aforementioned zoning layout principles, the workflow design of the nuclear medicine department should be effectively organized. This includes:
a. Unidirectional Flow: Ensure a one-way flow from clean areas to contaminated areas and from low-activity areas to high-activity areas.
b. Simplicity: Keep the workflow as simple as possible, avoiding any unnecessary crossing of paths.
These measures help maintain safety, efficiency, and proper contamination control in the department.
In the nuclear medicine department, workflow typically includes patient flow, medical staff flow, radiopharmaceutical flow, and radioactive waste flow. Among these, patient flow is the most strictly and complexly regulated. The goal is to ensure that the patient's diagnostic and treatment path moves forward without any backtracking.
As shown in the above example diagram, the areas within the red lines are controlled areas, and the areas within the black lines are supervised areas. The legend includes staff flow, waste flow, radiopharmaceutical flow, and patient flow, each moving unidirectionally without crossing paths.
The radiopharmaceutical flow in the diagram is divided into two paths based on the drug acquisition method:
a. External Purchase: Drugs are purchased externally and placed in lead containers. These are then transported by a professional vehicle, avoiding peak times, to the storage room for subsequent diagnostic and therapeutic use.
b. In-House Production: Using the department's cyclotron, drugs are produced, undergo quality control, storage, and packaging operations, and are then injected into patients.
Key Points of Zone Management and Workflow Design
1. Diagnostic and Treatment Process
The layout and workflow design of the nuclear medicine department should not only follow relevant principles but also align with the diagnostic and treatment process. For example, when designing patient flow, it's essential to fully understand the corresponding diagnostic and treatment procedures. Ensure that patients can complete a series of steps—such as consultation, drug injection, waiting, examination, observation, and discharge—along a single pathway after entering the department from the non-restricted area, without backtracking.
2. Radiation Safety
Radiation safety is the primary concern in the layout and workflow design of the nuclear medicine department. The design should aim for unidirectionality, no cross-flow, short and direct pathways, and appropriate control to minimize unnecessary radiation exposure for patients and healthcare workers.
When designing the department layout, ensure that staff pathways are separate from patient pathways and entrances/exits. There should be clear separation between staff rest areas, reading rooms, and restricted areas, with controlled areas centralized. Keeping workflows short and direct not only avoids crossing paths, improves diagnostic and treatment efficiency, and enhances patient experience, but also reduces radiation protection costs.
Additionally, consider implementing specific protective measures in controlled areas, such as work indicator lights, electronic access control systems, monitoring devices, and clear directional signs for patients to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering and to control patient movement after drug administration.
3. Waste Management
The handling of solid waste in the nuclear medicine department also influences its layout and workflow design. Radioactive waste is typically managed through centralized recovery and processing. Therefore, the department should establish a dedicated radioactive solid waste storage room, equipped with temporary waste bins for the storage and decay of radioactive waste. This storage room should be located at the edge of the controlled area to facilitate the transition and treatment of medical waste once it is no longer controlled.
4. Floor Layout
In cases where hospitals use multi-floor designs to compensate for insufficient flat building space, the nuclear medicine department layout should follow these principles:
a. Heavy Equipment Placement: Install large and heavy equipment on the lower floors.
b. Non-Restricted Areas: Arrange non-restricted areas like staff rest zones on the top floors.
c. Avoid High Floors: It's generally not recommended to set the nuclear medicine department on high floors due to considerations of lead shielding, equipment weight-bearing, and access issues, as well as to prevent long workflows that might lead to cross-contamination problems.
This issue of "Novel Medical" provides a detailed introduction to the layout and workflow design of the nuclear medicine department. If you want to learn more about building a new nuclear medicine department, continue following "Novel Medical"! "Novel Medical" has a professional team that can provide you with comprehensive nuclear medicine solutions and help you build an efficient, professional, and safe nuclear medicine department.
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