Estimation of occupational radiation doses in neuroendovascular procedures.

To estimate the mean effective dose per procedure with multiple dosimetry, to calculate the annual effective dose to personnel working in neuroendovascular procedures and compared with methods reported in the literature and with national and international limits. The radiation dose to personnel was monitored in 20 procedures classified as diagnostic or therapeutic. During each procedure, the equivalent dose to eyes, thyroid, under and over the lead apron at chest level, hands, gonads and knees was measured with lithium fluoride thermoluminescent dosimeter chips (TLD-100). Estimations of the annual effective dose from different methods found in literature that use one or two dosimeters and from this work were compared. Also, a comparison was made with the safety limits recommended in national and international regulations. Radiation exposure to eyes, thyroid, gonads and knees is relevant to the effective dose, and therefore to the annual effective dose estimations. Personnel position is important, as the performing physician, who is closer to the patient, received the highest dose measured. In particular, this was observed in the equivalent dose received over the apron. However, the equivalent dose to the right eye was higher for neuroanaesthesiologists than for performing physicians due to their position relative to the patient. In general, effective doses estimated using one- and two-dosimeter methods found in the literature were, respectively, lower and higher than those obtained with the ten-dosimeter method in this work. The annual effective doses to personnel estimated with the multiple dosimetry algorithm ranged from 1.3 to 1.5 mSv y-1and are within the national and international limits.

Dosimetry in a mammography phantom using TLD-300 dosimeters.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the photon field effective energy (Eeff ) distribution and percentage depth-dose (PDD) within a mammography phantom by the analysis of the CaF2 :Tm (TLD-300) thermoluminescent (TL) glow curve. The experimental procedure involves the use of TLD-300 to determine with single dosimeter exposures both the relative dose and the beam quality. METHODS: TLD-300 chips were exposed to x rays from a GE Senographe 2000D mammography unit at the surface and different depths within a BR12 phantom. X-ray beams were generated with Mo/Mo, Mo/Rh, and Rh/Rh anode/filter combinations and voltages between 25 and 34 kV. Glow curves were deconvoluted into component peaks and the high- to low-temperature ratio (HLTR) was evaluated. The photon field Eeff was obtained from the HLTR values using a calibration curve determined previously. PDD was established from the peak 5 TL signal (TLSP5 ) at depths between 0.0 and 3.5 cm inside the phantom. Taking into account the differences in density and composition between CaF2 :Tm and breast tissue, an energy-dependent correction factor (ß(E)) was applied to TLSP5 . Measurements were compared with radiation transport Monte Carlo (MC) simulations performed with PENELOPE-2008. RESULTS: A typical 5% change in the HLTR from the phantom top surface to 3.5 cm depth was measured, which corresponds to a 2.2 keV increase in photon field Eeff . Values of the ß(E) correction factor were 0.33 and 0.13 for Eeff equal to 15.1 and 22.5 keV, respectively. This strong energy dependence of ß(E) is mostly due to the differences in fluence attenuation between CaF2 and breast tissue. According to PDD measurements, dose decreased to half the surface value at depths between 0.7 and 1.0 cm for Mo/Mo/25 and Rh/Rh/34 beams, respectively. Values of PDD, less than 10% at 3.5 cm depth, would have been overestimated by about 3.5% (a large relative error) if an energy-independent correction factor had been assumed. Mean differences between experiments and MC simulations were 0.8 keV and 1.2% in the determination of Eeff and PDD, respectively. CONCLUSION: The TLD-300 glow curve was used to accurately measure the photon field Eeff and PDD within a mammographic phantom. This work has demonstrated that Eeff and dose can be established simultaneously by using solely TLD-300.

Evolution of the CaF2:Tm (TLD-300) glow curve as an indicator of beam quality for low-energy photon beams.

We study the high- to low- temperature signal ratio (HLTR) of the CaF2:Tm glow curve as a function of beam quality for low-energy photon beams with effective energy between 15.2 and 33.6 keV, generated with W, Mo and Rh anodes. CaF2:Tm dosemeters (TLD-300) were exposed to x-rays and (60)Co gamma-rays. Glow curves were deconvoluted into 7 peaks, using computerized glow curve deconvolution and HLTR was evaluated. Air kerma and dose in water were between 2.1-15.0 mGy and 49.8-373.8 mGy, respectively. All peaks in the glow curve showed a linear response with respect to air kerma and dose in water. HLTR values decreased monotonically between 1.029 ± 0.010 (at 15.2 keV) and 0.821 ± 0.011 (33.6 keV), and no effects due to the use of different anode/filter combinations were observed. The results indicate a relatively high value of HLTR (about 1 for 17 keV effective energy, or 3 keV µm(-1) track-average LET) and a measurable dependence on the photon beam quality. Comparison of these photon data with HLTR for ions shows good quantitative agreement. The reported evolution of the CaF2:Tm glow curve could facilitate the estimation of the effective energy of unknown photon fields by this technique.

Measurement of radiation exposure in relatives of thyroid cancer patients treated with (131)I.

This work evaluates the radiological risk that patients treated with I for differentiated thyroid cancer could present to relatives and occupationally exposed workers. Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued document K9010241, which recommends that patient discharge from the hospital must be based on the particular status of each patient. This work measures effective dose received by caregivers of patients treated with I at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City. Thermoluminescent dosimeters were carried during a 15-d period by 40 family caregivers after patient release from hospital. Relatives were classified into two groups, ambulatory and hospitalized, according to the release mode of the patient, and three categories according to the individual patient home and transport facilities. Categories A, B, and C were defined going from most to least adequate concerning public exposure risk. Measurements were performed for 20 family caregivers in each group. The effective dose received by all caregivers participating in this study was found to be less than 5 mSv, the recommended limit per event for caregivers suggested by ICRP 103. In addition, 70 and 90% of ambulatory and hospitalized groups, respectively, received doses lower than 1 mSv. Caregivers belonging to category C, with home situations that are not appropriate for immediate release, received the highest average doses; i.e., 2.2 ± 1.3 and 3.1 ± 1.0 mSv for hospitalized and ambulatory patients, respectively. Results of this work have shown that the proper implementation of radiation protection instructions for relatives and patients can reduce significantly the risk that differentiated thyroid cancer patients treated with I can represent for surrounding individuals. The results also stress the relevance of the patient's particular lifestyle and transport conditions as the prevailing factors related to the dose received by the caregiver. Therefore, the patient's status should be the criterion used to decide his/her release modality. This work provides support to recommend the implementation of the "patient specific release criteria" in accordance with ICRP 94, IAEA Safety Report No. 63, and IAE document K9010241 A for patients treated with radiopharmaceuticals.

Effect of dosimeter type for commissioning small photon beams on calculated dose distribution in stereotactic radiosurgery.

PURPOSE: To assess the impact of the detector used to commission small photon beams on the calculated dose distribution in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). METHODS: In this study, six types of detectors were used to characterize small photon beams: three diodes [a silicon stereotactic field diode SFD, a silicon diode SRS, and a silicon diode E], an ionization chamber CC01, and two types of radiochromic film models EBT and EBT2. These detectors were used to characterize circular collimated beams that were generated by a Novalis linear accelerator. This study was conducted in two parts. First, the following dosimetric data, which are of particular interest in SRS, were compared for the different detectors: the total scatter factor (TSF), the tissue phantom ratios (TPRs), and the off-axis ratios (OARs). Second, the commissioned data sets were incorporated into the treatment planning system (TPS) to compare the calculated dose distributions and the dose volume histograms (DVHs) that were obtained using the different detectors. RESULTS: The TSFs data measured by all of the detectors were in good agreement with each other within the respective statistical uncertainties: two exceptions, where the data were systematically below those obtained for the other detectors, were the CC01 results for all of the circular collimators and the EBT2 film results for circular collimators with diameters below 10.0 mm. The OAR results obtained for all of the detectors were in excellent agreement for all of the circular collimators. This observation was supported by the gamma-index test. The largest difference in the TPR data was found for the 4.0 mm circular collimator, followed by the 10.0 and 20.0 mm circular collimators. The results for the calculated dose distributions showed that all of the detectors passed the gamma-index test at 100% for the 3 mm/3% criteria. The aforementioned observation was true regardless of the size of the calculation grid for all of the circular collimators. Finally, the dose volume histogram results were independent of the size of the calculation grid used. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that all of the studied detectors produced similar commissioned data sets for the TPS dose calculations. However, this result only validated the dose distribution calculation in the TPS and could not be used to assess the dose delivery to the target in which the TFS data were used to calculate the monitor units (the TFS data were not used in the TPS dose distribution calculation). Therefore, this study could not be used to determine the most accurate detector commissioning data set; however, all of the detectors exhibited superior performance for the relative dosimetry of small photon beams.

Response of LiF:Mg,Ti to low energy carbon and oxygen ions.

The extended track interaction model (ETIM) has been formulated to explain the TL-fluence response for peak 5 to heavy ions using radial dose distributions produced by the ions in LiF and their luminescent centre occupation probability distributions. In this work, an experimental study of the TLD-100 fluence response to carbon and oxygen ions and its interpretation in terms of a Monte Carlo simulation of ETIM applied to peak 5 are presented. Irradiations were performed with 7.34 and 10.3 MeV 12C and 8.34 MeV 16O ions in the fluence interval between 2 x 10(7) and 2 x 10(11) cm(-2). Individual glow curve responses show the expected increase of supralinearity as the peak temperature increases. Data for peak 5 show a weak dependence with energy. These latter results are difficult to understand when one considers the differences in the expected radial occupancies for different ion energies.

Measurements of the optical density and the thermoluminescent response of LiF:Mg,Ti exposed to high doses of 60Co gamma rays.

The absorption spectra and glow curves of LiF:Mg,Ti exposed to high doses of 60Co gamma rays as well as the optical density curves and thermoluminescent (TL) response as a function of dose were measured. Absorption peaks around 442 nm (2.8 eV), 307 nm (4.0 eV) and 248 nm (5.0 eV) were observed. The optical density is a linear function of dose up to 2500 Gy and then sublinear for the 5.0 eV band, and for the 4.0 eV band it is sublinear with a filling constant of 2.1 x 10(-4) and 6.2 x 10(-4) Gy(-1). The dose response of the 2.8 eV band is linear from 2500 Gy to 10 kGy with a slope of 1.0 x 10(-5) Gy(-1). Once the absorption spectra were obtained, the glow curves and the TL response were obtained. In the dose range, 290-10,000 Gy, the TL response of peaks 5 and 7 was supralinear-sublinear.

Search for ionisation density effects in the radiation absorption stage in LiF:Mg,Ti.

Optical absorption (OA) dose-response of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) is studied as a function of electron energy (ionisation density) and irradiation dose. Contrary to the situation in thermoluminescence dose-response where the supralinearity is strongly energy-dependent, no dependence of the OA dose filling constants on energy is observed. This result is interpreted as indicating a lack of competitive process in the radiation absorption stage. The lack of an energy dependence of the dose filling constant also suggests that the charge carrier migration distances are sufficiently large to smear out the differences in the non-uniform distribution of ionisation events created by the impinging gamma/electron radiation of various energies.

LET and dose dependence of TLD-100 glow curve after exposure to intermediate-energy ions.

We present results from measurements performed with low fluences (10(5)-10(6) cm(-2)) of 15, 25 and 40 MeV u(-1) carbon, 25 MeV u(-1) oxygen and 40 MeV u(-1) neon ions incident on TLD-100 chips. Dosemeters were arranged individually or in stacks in front of the beam, allowing the study of various linear energy transfer (LET) values simultaneously. The thermoluminescence (TL) total signal is observed to be a linear function of deposited energy. To assess the contribution to the glow curve from the high-temperature peaks, two methods were studied: ratios of peak heights (peak 7 with respect to peak 5), and ratios of areas of the deconvoluted high-temperature peaks with respect to peak 5. The ratios were evaluated as a function of dose, showing in both methods a dependence on LET and ion identity. Some of the studied ions show these ratios to be independent of dose, up to 500 mGy, while for other ions, departures from linearity up to 4.5% +/- 2.5% per 100 mGy are observed at 500 mGy. These results show that, in general, the incident radiation LET is not a parameter that can be deduced from the glow curve.

Thermoluminescence induced by heavy charged particles.

Thermoluminescent materials display complex features when exposed to heavy charged particles: the TL response shows a linear-supralinear saturation dependence on the fluence and the efficiency is a strong function of the particle's velocity. Results are presented from measurements performed with low energy ions incident on TLD-100. The measured supralinearity can be reproduced by a Monte Carlo track interaction model which incorporates saturation effects; however, the model parameters which describe the ion's radii do not display the expected dependence on incident energy. The efficiency data support the choice of reference radiation having a secondary electron spectrum 'matched' to that of the heavy charged particles. The systematics of the measured glow curve shapes and maximum supralinearity unifies results from light ions and photons based on characteristics of the secondary electron spectra.

On the correct measurement of relative heavy charged particles to gamma thermoluminescent efficiencies.

In order to better understand the most important experimental aspects for performing correct measurements of relative thermoluminescent (TL) efficiencies, an investigation has been carried out to quantify the effect of using different experimental procedures in the evaluation of 3 MeV proton-to-gamma relative efficiency (etap,gamma) of LiF:Mg,Ti. Variations in batch, presentation, annealing and reader have been studied. When the same protocol is used to measure proton and gamma TL response, efficiency values obtained range from 0.36 to 0.59 for peak 5 and from 0.44 to 0.79 for the total signal. The use of different annealings and different batches leads to 20% and 10% differences in etap,gamma respectively. Large differences (40%) are found between efficiency values measured with TLD-100 chips and those obtained using TLD-100 microcubes. When 'mixed' procedures are used to measure the proton and the gamma response, differences in etap,gamma may increase even more. The main conclusion of this work is to stress the importance of measuring an entire series of experiments in the same laboratory with a carefully defined protocol and using dosemeters from the same batch to obtain heavy charged particle TL response and gamma TL response with identical annealing and readout procedures.

Thermoluminescent response and relative efficiency of TLD-100 exposed to low-energy x-rays.

The dose-response of LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) exposed to 15 and 35 kVp (8.0 +/- 0.1 and 8.1 +/- 0.1 keV effective energy respectively) x-rays and 60Co gamma-rays has been measured in the dose interval from (1.2-5.4) x 10(3) Gy for x-rays, and from 0.14 to 850 Gy for gamma-rays. In both cases the total TL signal and glow curve peaks 3 to 9 show supralinearity. The supralinearity function f(D) is similar for both x-ray beams, except for peak 8, where a 30% difference is observed. The maxima of f(D) for the total TL signal and peaks 5 to 8 are 2.1, 1.7, 6.4, 3.3 and 7.5 respectively for 8.1 keV x-rays and 3.7, 3.1, 13.6, 9.9 and 11.0 for gamma-rays. The measured relative efficiencies for x-rays with respect to 60Co, for the total TL signal and peaks 5 and 7, were 1.04, 0.97 and 3.2 respectively.

Monte Carlo simulation of depth-dose distributions in TLD-100 under 90Sr-90Y irradiation.

In this work the depth-dose distribution in TLD-100 dosimeters under beta irradiation from a 90Sr-90Y source was investigated using the Monte Carlo method. Comparisons between the simulated data and experimental results showed that the depth-dose distribution is strongly affected by the different components of both the source and dosimeter holders due to the large number of electron scattering events.