게시판
| 21KS-043 |
Effect of radiating output adjustment and lead aprons on reducing radiation exposure of a C-arm: a retrospective study.
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain
Medicine, Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic
University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Background: A C-arm is an essential device for pain interventions. However, it can exposure biohazard radiation to physicians. The exposure time, the distance from the radiation source and shielding from radiation are major factors of reducing the ration exposure. It is not easy to control the risk factors associated with radiation exposure dramatically. The primary purpose of the study was to compare the radiation exposure amount after adjusting the radiation output. The secondary purpose was to evaluate the effect of the thickness of a lead apron on the radiation reduction.
Methods: This is a retrospective medical records study. We analyzed the data for each quarter of 2020 and predicted the radiation exposure of the physician in 1st quarter, 2021 randomly. 95 subjects were included in the pre-control group and 208 subjects in the post-control group. We adjusted the 1/4 pulsed mode and 1/5 dose(nSv/pulse) of C-arm radiation that would not interfere with the procedure. The lead apron of the physician was replaced with a thicker one from 0.35mmPb to 0.5mmPb. Finally, we compared and analyzed radiation dose exposure to the performer with figures from Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dosimeter.
Results: Based on only the number of C-arm interventions in each quarter, the predicted radiation exposure of physician and C-arm operator was 5.82mSv, 2.18mSv, respectively. The final exposure analyzed through the OSL dosimeter was checked at 1.58mSv, 2.14mSv, with a decrease of 72.9% for physicians and 1.8% for technicians.
Conclusions: Distance seems to be more important than time to reduce radiation exposure when comparing the data between physician and C-arm operator. Furthermore, the closer the distance from the patient or the X-ray source, the more important the thickness of the lead apron is than expected. The period during which we applied thicker lead aprons and reduced energy volumes is actually 1.5 months, which we can expect to see further increases in the actual reduction if applied over the entire 3 months period.
Methods: This is a retrospective medical records study. We analyzed the data for each quarter of 2020 and predicted the radiation exposure of the physician in 1st quarter, 2021 randomly. 95 subjects were included in the pre-control group and 208 subjects in the post-control group. We adjusted the 1/4 pulsed mode and 1/5 dose(nSv/pulse) of C-arm radiation that would not interfere with the procedure. The lead apron of the physician was replaced with a thicker one from 0.35mmPb to 0.5mmPb. Finally, we compared and analyzed radiation dose exposure to the performer with figures from Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dosimeter.
Results: Based on only the number of C-arm interventions in each quarter, the predicted radiation exposure of physician and C-arm operator was 5.82mSv, 2.18mSv, respectively. The final exposure analyzed through the OSL dosimeter was checked at 1.58mSv, 2.14mSv, with a decrease of 72.9% for physicians and 1.8% for technicians.
Conclusions: Distance seems to be more important than time to reduce radiation exposure when comparing the data between physician and C-arm operator. Furthermore, the closer the distance from the patient or the X-ray source, the more important the thickness of the lead apron is than expected. The period during which we applied thicker lead aprons and reduced energy volumes is actually 1.5 months, which we can expect to see further increases in the actual reduction if applied over the entire 3 months period.