THYRPAN-TM Prototype: New System for Online Telemonitoring of Patients with Thyroid Carcinoma During the Treatment with a High Dose of Radioiodine.
BACKGROUND Our team devised a real-time telemonitoring system (THYRPAN-TM) for measurement of the radiation exposure rate during the hospitalization of patients treated with high doses of radioiodine in the special premises with restricted access ("restricted area" [RA]). SUBJECTS AND METHODS The THYRPAN-TM prototype was tested for stability, efficacy, and linearity in a 32-day measurement of a 110 MBq (131)I source. Furthermore, it was tested on 15 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma who stayed in the RA for 3 days, following their radioiodine treatment. RESULTS Minor deviation from the theoretical values was detected when the (131)I source was measured by the THYRPAN-TM, but only at the beginning of the measurement (7.20%). CONCLUSIONS THYRPAN-TM is a stable, user-friendly detection system for the measurement of the exposure rate following radioiodine administration. It enables the telemonitoring of patients, as well as real-time and online measurement of the whole-body burden of (131)I.