Patent Number: 048809896
Section: summary

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to shielding apparatus for radioactive materials. In particular, the invention relates to shielding apparatus utilized with radioaerosol delivery systems in nuclear medicine. 2. State of the Art Lung ventillation scanning using radiolabeled aerosols has been studied for about the last 20 years. However, until recently when improved aerosol generating devices have become more generally available, practical applications of such methods have been extremely limited. One particularly useful aerosol generating system is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,387 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,033, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The nebulizer described in those patents has been found to be particularly useful in generating aerosols having a particle size and particle size distribution to make lung scanning a useful diagnostic tool. Relatively recent articles describing lung scanning methodology utilizing radioactive aerosols can be found at: Radiology, 131:256-258, April 1979; Seminars in Nuclear Medicine, Volume X, No. 3 (July), 1980, pp. 243-251; and The Journal of Nuclear Biology and Medicine, Vol. 19, No. 2, 1975, pp. 112-120. Because of the increased interest in using radioaerosols for diagnostic imaging, there is a need for a compact and practical apparatus for delivering such radioaerosols to a patient. The invention described herein is considered to satisfy such a need. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed in one aspect to an apparatus comprising support means for supporting a radioaerosol generating source; transport means connectable to the source for transporting a radioactive aerosol generated by the source to a patient in fluid communication with the source; and shielding means substantially surrounding the support means and the transport means for reducing the amount of radiation transmitted to the surroundings, a portion of the shielding means being releasably attachable to the transport means and being removable with said transport means and said source from the support means as a unit. In another aspect, the invention is directed to a shielding container comprising an outer shell; an inner shell supported within the outer shell, the inner shell being formed with an inner wall and an outer wall defining a space therebetween for receiving radiation shielding material, the inner wall having a portion thereof conforming substantially to the contours of a radioaerosol source and transport means to be placed therein; and a removable cover formed with radiation shielding material and having a portion thereof conforming generally to the contours of the radioaerosol transport means to be positioned thereunder, the inner wall and the cover defining at least one opening therebetween to permit the transport means placed therein to be in fluid communication with the surrounding atmosphere and/or patient when in use.