A correlation study of eye lens dose and personal dose equivalent for interventional cardiologists

Abstract

This paper presents the dosimetry part of the European ELDO project, funded by the DoReMi Network of Excellence, in which a method was developed to estimate cumulative eye lens doses for past practices based on personal dose equivalent values, H(p)(10), measured above the lead apron at several positions at the collar, chest and waist levels. Measurement campaigns on anthropomorphic phantoms were carried out in typical interventional settings considering different tube projections and configurations, beam energies and filtration, operator positions and access routes and using both mono-tube and biplane X-ray systems. Measurements showed that eye lens dose correlates best with H(p)(10) measured on the left side of the phantom at the level of the collar, although this correlation implicates high spreads (41 %). Nonetheless, for retrospective dose assessment, H(p)(10) records are often the only option for eye dose estimates and the typically used chest left whole-body dose measurement remains useful.

Assessment of clinical occupational dose reduction effect of a new interventional cardiology shield for radial access combined with a scatter reducing drape

“…Also, some of the cardiologists wear lead lined glasses and the combination of protection equipment would be difficult to measure. Nonetheless, some authors use collar dose to reflect eye dose and it is likely that the benefit to operators is greater than that measured in this study; future studies should take account of newer methods of recording eye dose. The same could be said of hand dose, which can also be high among this cohort .…”

Assessment of clinical occupational dose reduction effect of a new interventional cardiology shield for radial access combined with a custom scatter reducing drape

“…Also, some of the cardiologists wear lead lined glasses and the combination of protection equipment would be difficult to measure. Nonetheless, some authors use collar dose to reflect eye dose [30] and it is likely that the benefit to operators is greater than that measured in this study; future studies should take account of newer methods of recording eye dose. The same could be said of hand dose, which can also be high among this cohort [11].…”

Use of personal radiation protection tools and individual dosimetric monitoring in a sample of interventional cardiologists in France, 2005–2009

“…The validity of this study depends on two assumptions: that individual dosimeters were always worn and that chest dosimeters are a good indicator of eye exposure. While the first point may be possible, the second assumption may be less accurate, as detailed in a recent paper (Farah et al, 2013).…”

“…In April 2011, on the basis of epidemiological and biological studies, the International sophie.jacob@irsn.fr Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) revised its lifetime eye dose threshold for cataract induction downwards from 2 Gy to 0.5 Gy, and the annual occupational eye dose limit from 150 mSv to 20 mSv per year (ICRP, 2009(ICRP, , 2011. The lack of an appropriate eye dosimeter makes it difficult to verify whether this substantial dose reduction is met, especially in view of the incomplete use of radiation protection tools to limit the exposure of the eyes and of the whole body to ionising radiation (Lie et al, 2008;Gualdrini et al, 2011;Sanchez et al, 2012;Farah et al, 2013). In such a context, wearing whole-body dosimeters is essential for monitoring the cumulative dose received by ICs.…”