Operation rules, workflow and routines at the PET/SPECT/CT unit at BMC A09

Transcription

1 Operation rules, workflow and routines at the PET/SPECT/CT unit at BMC A09 1. GENERAL It is mandatory that everyone who will be working in the PET/SPECT/CT unit (i.e. the person who is present at the imaging experiment) has received radiation safety education radiation safety officer/researcher, telephone , to receive these instructions/educations prior to the experiment. The PET/SPECT/CT laboratories are classified as restricted area (kontrollerat område), i.e. meaning that only a limited number of persons have access to the laboratories, only the PET/SPECT staff and the scientists/persons who have passed the radiation safety educations. Visitors (including the animal staff or other) have to contact the PET/SPECT staff before entering. The following rules for the PET/SPECT/CT unit located in the conventional animal department at BMC have been drawn up as a specific complement of the General rules for the conventional animal department at BMC. Contact the operating manager Lena Persson Feld, Lena.Persson_Feld@med.lu.se, telephone in case of any questions It is the duty of the each research group leader, as well as the PET/SPECT staff to ensure compliance with the rules. Failure to adhere to these rules may result in the termination of the study by the steering committee of LBIC. The LBIC personnel should always be contacted to clarify any doubts regarding safety issues related to the PET/SPECT/CT unit Staff Experiments and service on PET/CT or SPECT/CT cameras will primarily be performed by LBIC staff unless otherwise agreed. The LBIC staff will work in close collaboration with the research groups before, during and after the experiments. - Gustav Grafström, radiation protection officer/researcher, gustav.grafstrom@med.lu.se, Thuy Tran, radiochemist/researcher, thuy.tran@med.lu.se, Phone number to the SPECT/CT room: Phone number to the PET/CT room: Following is an overview of the service/tasks that might be provided by the staff at the PET/SPECT/CT. Other services might be arranged upon agreement 1

2 Staff Roles Initial discussion and design of experimental layout Writing adequate parts of the application form to the research board, parts of the ethical permit Radiation Safety Education Introduction in the PET/SPECT/CT unit Imaging systems QC Assisting in delivery and receive of radiotracers, anesthesia systems, Acquisition, processing, storage, analysis of images Imaging Experiment Two roles Scientist Roles All animal care according to regulations and compliance in BMC animal house Anesthesia handling Preparation and injection of tracers Positioning, monitoring and placement of animal in the animal chambers -being Transportation of animal Clean-up and waste handling according to the routines and rules Scheduling, Assisting with waste handling Transportation and storage of animal in the radioactive animal rooms with the help from LBIC staff Table 1: An overview of principle roles of the responsible scientist and our staff Laboratory space orientation and safety The PET/SPECT/CT unit is located in the conventional animal department and the General rules apply. Only the scientists that have scheduled for experiments on a specific occasion are allowed to enter to this restricted area. The PET/SPECT staff should be informed in advance when guests would like to visit. If you want to invite guests who do not have access to the animal house, the operating manager (Lena Persson Feld) at BMC animal house has to be informed. The whole PET/SPECT/CT unit is a restricted area, i.e. meaning that only a limited number of persons has access to, primarily the staff and the scientists who work with radioactive materials/radiation and who has received adequate radiation safety educations. The access to the PET/SPECT unit is issued by LBIC and Lena Persson Feld The function of the different laboratory spaces are described in Figure 1 and the text below. 2

3 Figure 1. Laboratory space at PET/SPECT/CT unit in BMC A09 1) Entrance to the PET/SPECT/CT facility Entrance/exit to the PET/SPECT/CT unit from this door. A changing zone is marked with yellow/black tape. Before entering the respective laboratory, put on white lab coats and change your shoes to the white ones There is a sink for washing and disinfecting hands after work. 2) Contamination detector A contamination monitor is attached on the wall for checking possible radioactive contamination before leaving the laboratories. If you are contaminated, the alarm on the monitor will go off. Contact Gustav Grafström for help. 3) SPECT/CT room Room 0948c Before entering the SPECT/CT room, protective lab coat and separate shoes or shoe protection have to be used. This changing zone is marked with the yellow/black tape Besides the SPECT/CT camera, there is a work station for acquisition of scans, IVC (individual ventilated cage)animal cabinet, LAF-bench, ventilated dissection bench and washing bench. The animal cabinet is an IVC cabinet. The animals are not allowed to stay there more than 24 hours. The light will be turned off if no person is in the unit. Animal preparation is performed in the LAF-bench, where isoflurane equipment for anesthetizing is available 3

4 4) Door to the MR This door is right now only used by LBIC staff following a separate SOP. 5) Preparation room Washing bench CO 2 hood for euthanization of animals. Euthanization of animals with CO 2 should always be confirmed by other method (for example cervical dislocation) A fume hood with lead shielding for preparing the radiotracers and radioactive syringes. A dose calibrator for measuring activity, a scale for weighing organs or substances A centrifuge for blood samples A freezer/refrigerator for storage of samples and cadavers Cabinets for storing tubes, syringes, needles, papers, gloves and other consumables. A radioactive waste container (with lead shielding) for disposal of possibly contaminated gloves 6) Emergency exit This door may only be opened in the case of emergency. Opening this door breaks the - genomräckningslucka This box may only be used for delivery of radiotracers and must NOT be used for any other purposes. Only a limited number of persons have access to this box (only the PET/SPECT staff). Before delivery or receiving of radiotracers the staff has to be informed. The key to the Virkon cabinet is always stored in the box. The Virkon solution is freshly prepared every Monday by the PET/SPECT staff. The radiotracer container is sprayed with Virkon outside the box before it is put into the box. Transportation, delivery and receiving the radiotracers are described in a separate introduction (See SOP General radiation safety). 8) PET/CT room, Room 0948c Before entering the PET/CT room, protective lab coat and separate shoes or shoe protection have to be used. This changing zone is marked with the yellow/black tape. Besides the PET/CT camera, there is a work station for acquisition of scans, IVC animal cabinet, ventilated dissection bench, LAF-bench and washing bench. The animal cabinet is an IVC cabinet. The animals are not allowed to stay there more than 24 hours Animal preparation is performed in the LAF-bench, where isoflurane equipment for anesthetizing are available 4

5 9) Police alarm There is one police alarm close to the door of the PET/CT room and one in the corridor and may only be used in case of emergency (assault). The alarm is directly connected to the police. 2. ANIMAL HANDLING AND EXPERIMENTS 2.1. Scheduling an experiment Prior to scheduling an experiment in the PET/SPECT/CT facility, the form LBIC experiment request form regarding the project and the animals (including the ethical permit number, drugs administrated, surgical procedures done, implants, etc.) needs to be filled in and signed by the principle investigator and delivered to research board. The form can be downloaded. The responsible scientist (i.e. the person who will be present at the experiment occasion) must have got radiation safety education. The responsible scientist must have got an introduction in the PET/SPECT unit by our staff before start of the experiment. This introduction has to be renewed after one year of inactivity. If you want to invite guest to our unit, the PET/SPECT staff has to be informed. If these guests do not have access to the animal facility, Lena Persson Feld has to be informed General animal handling The responsible scientist has the main responsibility for the well-being of the animals at all times. All persons who have animals in the department must leave a telephone number where they can be reached during working hours and after normal working hours. All transport of non-radioactive animals will be handled by the staff of the animal department. Animals from the C-corridor will never be transported back to the C- corridor, therefore consult with Lena Persson Feld for further instructions. All transport of animal cages must be done in cabinets that are ventilated or have a filter top. This also applies to empty used cages, which must be placed on the unclean side of the dishwashing room, in the specially appointed place. All work with animals inside the laboratory should be done at ventilated work benches, in the LAF-bench and on the ventilated bench Equipment for anesthesia and animal positioning related to the experiment is provided. Most of the dissection tools and consumables (syringes, needles, paper, tubes) are provided 5

6 For the benefit and comfort of everyone, leave the laboratory in the condition in which you would like to find them Before the experiment Information provided in the experiment request form will be considered. Although the responsible scientist has received radiation safety training, we recommend every responsible scientist to discuss through the layout of each experiment with our radiation safety officer/researcher Gustav Grafström prior to each specific experiment. This is to further get an in-depth risk assessment of the critical task/operation related to the radiation dose, and to make sure that the responsible scientist is aware of the possible risks. The responsible scientist should also discuss with the staff about the housing of radioactive animals in the specific experiment The responsible scientist should discuss with the staff to arrange the delivery of radiotracers (what time to receive, and who will deliver etc). If there are instruments to be brought into our facility, discuss with the staff to arrange this The responsible scientist is responsible for the following: - The well-being of the animals during housing and experiment. The responsible scientist is encouraged to comment if the housing conditions are not optimal and need improvement. - Contact the animal house staff to agree upon the time for animal transport - Organizing the transport of the animals to the PET/SPECT/CT unit and put those in the designated area well before the experiment. Also, give them water and food as well as cleaning of the cages. - All animals must be in labeled boxes with top filters. The labeling of each individual animal (if more than one per box) should be stated clearly on the box. - If special arrangements are required, discuss with the staff 2.4. During the experiment Information provided in the experiment request form will be considered. Before start commencing work, all the work space has to be checked for possible contamination using a detector. Note the background level in the log book. The responsible scientist is responsible for the following during the experiment: - Handle the radioactive materials - Prepare radiotracers and do the measurement on the dose calibrator - Perform radiotracer injection or contrast agents - Anesthetizing and positioning the animals in the bed. The staff will assist if desired 6

7 - temperature, respiratory rate and cardiac rhythm of the animal. The staff will assist if desired. - The animal bed must be wiped off before inserting the animal in the scanner - Monitor the animal while waking up in the end of the experiment - Perform the euthanization of the animals according to the permit in a wellventilated designated area (either in the CO 2 hood or on the ventilated dissection bench) - Perform dissection of the animals if desired The staff will perform scanning, acquisition of images and will be available for assistance. The staff will help with the classifying/declassifying of the radioactive animals and cages so that the right handling and housing are performed. For the safety of everyone, all radioactive animals have to be declassified from radiation by the PET/SPECT staff before they are transported back to their original room. For the safety of everyone, all cages that have been used for radioactive animals have to be declassified from radiation by PET/SPECT staff before they are put for washing. Right now, we can only offer the use of a limited number of isotopes (see table below). This list will be eventually expanded with time when we have set up the working routines for other type of isotopes. List of isotopes Short half-life (T 1/2 < 10 h) Long half-life (T 1/2 > 10 h) 11 C (20 min) PET* 111 In (3 d) SPECT 68 Ga (68 min) PET 89 Zr (3 d) PET 18 F (110 min) PET 90 Y (3 d) SPECT 99m Tc (6 h) SPECT 64 Cu (12.7 h) PET* 211 At (6 h) SPECT 177 Lu (7 d) SPECT Only these isotopes may be used for studies on PET/SPECT/CT during Request of other isotopes has to be made to the PET/SPECT staff. *Not yet available in Lund. The commonly isotopes of iodine: 123 I (13.3 h), 124 I (4 days), 125 I (60 days), 131 I (8 days) are not yet planned to be used in our laboratories during , as these requires more safety handling The radioactive animals and waste are stored on designated area. Following are the different experiment settings. The right experimental setting should be considered prior to the actual day of experiments Experiment setting 1: Handling of radioactive animals Acute experiment 7

8 Acute experiment means that the animals will be directly euthanized after the imaging sessions. As soon as the animals are injected with radioactivity, they will be housed in an IVC All cages will be measured for radioactivity using a contamination detector by the PET/SPECT staff in order to declassifying from radiation before they are put to the washing department. Contaminated /cage material will be put for decay in the freezer room I This is done by PET/SPECT staff. The responsible scientist has to label the cage (isotope type and date) properly to facilitate our work. The radioactive waste (cadavers) is to put in a plastic bag with a full declaration of isotope, amount, date and name. This will be put in the freezer room I-0932, which will be done by PET/SPECT staff. Experiment setting 2: Handling of radioactive animals Longitudinal experiment A longitudinal experiment means that the animals might be re-imaged several times. During the time the animals are radioactive, they have to be housed in our dedicated room B8. Only the PET/SPECT staff has access to this room. From the time the animals are injected with radiotracers, they have to be housed in. After imaging, the radioactive animals are transported to room B8 by PET/SPECT staff. Depending on the level of radiation (which will be estimated for each cage regarding to the injected dose and half-life of the isotope used), the cages will be labeled with the color of GREEN (low radiation, usually for short-lived isotopes with half-life under 10 h), YELLOW (middle radiation, usually for long-lived isotopes with halflife >10 h - days) or RED (High radiation risk, usually for animals with multiisotopes). This is done with the help by Gustav Grafström. The respective cage will be placed in racks according to the color tag. During the time the animals are housed in room B8, the daily routine of changing cages and cage materials is done by the animal staff. If there are animals that need special attention by the responsible scientist, please inform the LBIC staff in advance. All cages will be measured for radioactivity using a contamination detector by the PET/SPECT staff in order to declassifying from radiation before they are put to the washing deill be put for decay in the freezer room I The responsible scientist has to label the cage (isotope type and date) properly to facilitate our work. The radioactive waste (cadavers) is to put in a plastic bag with a full declaration of isotope, amount, date and name. This will be put in the freezer room I

9 2.5. After the experiment After the experiment, when all animals have been cleared in any way (either brought back to their animal room, to the radioactive room or terminated), the work space have to be cleaned in a proper way (see 2.6) Monitor the work space for possible contamination using a contamination detector and make a note in the log book. Throw the paper towels, possible contaminated gloves in the lead-shielded waste container. Make sure to collect all your belongings The animals are not to be housed in the PET/SPECT facility more than 24 hours. If the animals are transported back to their original room, the animal staff has to be contacted. The animals are not allowed to be brought back to the C-corridor. Contact Lena Persson Feld for further instructions The radioactive cadavers will be taken in plastic bags to the freezers in room I-0932 for decay (see separate instructions in the Radiation Safety Manual). This is done by the PET/SPECT staff. Non-radioactive biological waste and regular waste will be handled according to the General rules for the animal house Cleaning procedures All surfaces in direct/indirect contact with animals will be cleaned first with water, dishwashing liquid and later with ethanol after every animal. The cylinder of the animal bed will be wiped off (NO ethanol or any other disinfecting solutions may be used) and put on the washing bench. LBIC staff will disinfect with H2O2 the animal bed after each animal batch and between different research groups. Cleaning procedures for the animal bed and the anesthetizing box: In between animals of the same project: The anesthetizing boxes (sövbox and uppvakningsbox) will be cleaned with water, dish-washing liquid and ethanol. The animal bed will be wiped off with a moist paper tissue. NO ethanol or any other disinfecting solution is used for the animal bed. The animal bed should be detected for possible contamination using a detector. This is done by the responsible scientist. In between different projects: The anesthetizing box will be cleaned with dishwashing liquid and then rinsed by water. The animal bed will be disassembled and a vacuum pipette is used to blow through the channels. The animal bed will be disinfected in a mobile H 2 O 2 system. This is done by the PET/SPECT staff. The dissection tools will be wiped off with paper tissue, rinsed with water and cleaned with dish-washing liquid. They are then put back in the tray on the sink and the PET/SPECT staff will autoclave these. The CO 2 lid is rinsed with water, cleaned with dish-washing liquid and then rinsed with ethanol 9