Dose estimation of eye lens for interventional procedures in diagnosis. (November 2017) - Liu, Yu-Rong
Abstract: The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended that the equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye be decreased from 150 mSv/y (ICRP, 2007 ) to 20 mSv/y averaged over five years (ICRP, 2011 ). How to accurately measure the eye-lens dose has, therefore, been an issue of interest recently. Interventional radiologists are at a higher risk of radiation-induced eye injury, such as cataracts, than all other occupational radiation workers. The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the doses to the eye lenses of interventional radiologists measured by different commercial eye-lens dosimeters. This study measured a reference eye-lens dose, which involved placing thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) chips at the surface of the eye of the Rando Phantom, and the TLD chips were covered by a 3-mm-thick tissue-equivalent bolus. Commercial eye-lens dosimeters, such as a headband dosimeter and standard personnel dose badges, were placed at the positions recommended by the manufacturers. The results show that the personnel dose badge is not an appropriate dosimeter for evaluating eye-lens dose. Dose deviations for different dosimeters are discussed and presented in this study. Highlights: Dose of eye lens for a radiologist in interventional procedure was evaluated, by TLD chips, Headband dosimeters and badges. Different geometries of TLDs cause different estimated doses of the eye lens for lower energy photon field. The lens dose is about 0.3 mSv (10 min abdomen procedure) with lead glasses for the radiologist. The personnel dose badge is not an appropriate dosimeter for evaluating eye-lens dose.