Purpose and Scope

Radiology and nuclear medicine physicians, health physicists, medical physicists, radiation safety officers, regulators, and any others with the responsibility for estimating fetal dose should use the methods and numerical estimates shown in the sections of this standard for estimating radiation doses to exposed or potentially exposed pregnant subjects. Anyone employing this document should understand and take into consideration the uncertainties in applying model-based dose values to specific individuals and allow for these uncertainties in interpreting the results and discussing them with the potentially exposed subject and administrative, regulatory, or other personnel. The information provided in Section 6 should be used to evaluate the potential risks of any doses calculated.

A recent article (Shiralkar et al. 2003) noted that some physicians might have a weak understanding of radiation doses received from standard radiological examinations. Consultation with a facility radiation safety officer or other knowledgeable physicist, in conjunction with proper use of this standard, is strongly encouraged and should provide the most accurate estimate of uterine/fetal dose available from the current literature. This standard identifies acceptable methods for assessment of fetal absorbed dose from medical examinations, radiation therapy, and occupational exposures.