PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Norman E. Bolus TI - NCRP Report 160 and What It Means for Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine AID - 10.2967/jnmt.113.128728 DP - 2013 Dec 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology PG - 255--260 VI - 41 IP - 4 4099 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/41/4/255.short 4100 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/41/4/255.full SO - J. Nucl. Med. Technol.2013 Dec 01; 41 AB - The purpose of this paper is to briefly explain report 160 of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement and the significance of the report to medical imaging as a whole and nuclear medicine specifically. The implications of the findings of report 160 have had repercussions and will continue to affect all of ionizing radiation medical imaging. The nuclear medicine community should have an understanding of why and how report 160 is important. After reading this article, the nuclear medicine technologist will be familiar with the main focus of report 160, the significant change that has occurred since the 1980s in the ionizing radiation exposure of people in the United States, the primary background source of ionizing radiation in the United States, the primary medical exposure to ionizing radiation in the United States, trends in nuclear medicine procedures and patient exposure, and a comparison of population doses between 2006 and the early 1980s as outlined in report 160.