New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 28 - RADIATION PROTECTION PROGRAMS › Subchapter 15 - MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC X-RAY INSTALLATIONS › Section 7:28-15.5 - Medical fluoroscopic x-ray systems

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The provisions of this section are in addition to and not in substitution for the applicable provisions of N.J.A.C. 7:28.
(b) No person shall operate or permit the operation of certified or uncertified fluoroscopic x-ray equipment used in the healing arts unless the equipment meets the following requirements:
1. The fluoroscopic imaging assembly shall be provided with a primary protective barrier which intercepts the entire cross section of the useful beam at any source-to-image receptor distance.
i. The x-ray tube used for fluoroscopy shall not produce x-rays unless the primary protective barrier is in position to intercept the entire useful beam. Radiation therapy simulator systems shall be exempt from this requirement provided the systems are intended only for remote control operation and the manufacturer sets forth instructions for assemblers with respect to control location as part of the information required to be in the manufacturer's specifications manual and provides the registrant with precautions concerning the importance of remote control operation.
ii. The exposure rate due to transmission through the primary protective barrier with an attenuation block in the useful beam combined with the radiation from the image intensifier, if provided, shall not exceed 5.2 E-6 Coulombs per kilogram (two milliroentgens per hour) at 10 centimeters (four inches) from any accessible surface of the fluoroscopic imaging assembly beyond the plane of the image receptor for each Roentgen per minute of entrance exposure rate. The attenuation block shall be a block or stack, having dimensions 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters by 3.8 centimeters (eight inches by eight inches by 1.5 inches), of type 1100 aluminum alloy or aluminum alloy having equivalent attenuation. Radiation therapy simulator systems shall be exempt from this requirement provided the systems are intended only for remote control operation and the manufacturer sets forth instructions for assemblers with respect to control location as part of the information required to be in the manufacturer's specifications manual and provides the registrant with precautions concerning the importance of remote control operation.
iii. The exposure rate due to transmission through the primary barrier combined with radiation from the image intensifier, if provided, shall be determined by measurements averaged over an area of 100 square centimeters (15.5 square inches) with no linear dimension greater than 20 centimeters (eight inches). If the source is below the tabletop, the measurement shall be made with the input surface of the fluoroscopic imaging assembly positioned 30 centimeters (12 inches) above the tabletop. If the source is above the tabletop and the SID is variable, the measurement shall be made with the end of the beam-limiting device or spacer as close to the tabletop as it can be placed, provided that it shall not be closer than 30 centimeters (12 inches). Movable grids and compression devices shall be removed from the useful beam during the measurement. For all measurements, the attenuation block shall be positioned in the useful beam 10 centimeters (four inches) from the point of measurement of entrance exposure rate and between this point and the input surface of the fluoroscopic imaging assembly. For C-arm fluoroscopy equipment, the measurement shall be made with the end of the beam-limiting device at the minimum SID and the attenuation block not closer than 30 centimeters (12 inches) from the imaging assembly.
iv. For uncertified fluoroscopic equipment only, the fluoroscopic screen shall be covered with a transparent protective material such that under normal operating conditions the dose rate measured five centimeters from the viewer's side of the screen shall not be more than 20 milliroentgens per hour (5.2 E-6 Coulombs per kilogram) without a patient and with the screen 20 centimeters (eight inches) from the tabletop or panel);