1. Evaluation of Radiation Doses Received by Physicians during Permanent 198 Au Grain Implant Brachytherapy for Oral Cancer.
- Author
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Inaba, Yohei, Jingu, Keiichi, Fujisawa, Masaki, Otomo, Kazuki, Ishii, Hiroki, Kato, Toshiki, Murabayashi, Yuuki, Suzuki, Masatoshi, Zuguchi, Masayuki, and Chida, Koichi
- Subjects
MEDICAL personnel ,RADIATION doses ,RADIATION protection ,TONGUE cancer ,CRYSTALLINE lens - Abstract
Featured Application: Importance of the evaluation of the physician's eye exposure to radiation during
198 Au grain brachytherapy, given that the eye dose limit has been reduced drastically from 150 to 20 mSv/year. Brachytherapy is a practical, effective procedure for the local treatment of cancer; it delivers a high radiation dose to a limited tissue volume while sparing the surrounding normal tissues. Although the clinical benefit of brachytherapy is clear, there have been very few studies on the radiation dose received by physicians during the procedure. Furthermore, no study has investigated the eye radiation dose received by physicians performing198 Au grain (seed) brachytherapy, using an eye dosimeter. Recently, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended significantly reducing the occupational lens dose limit, from 150 to 20 mSv/yr (100 mSv/5 years). Therefore, it has become essential to evaluate the eye radiation doses of medical workers. We evaluated the eye radiation dose of a brachytherapy physician performing198 Au permanent grain implantation for tongue cancer; this is the first study on this topic. The maximum eye dose was ~0.1 mSv/procedure, suggesting that it is unlikely to exceed the ICRP limit (20 mSv/yr) for the lens, unless many procedures are performed with inappropriate radiation protection. To reduce the dose of radiation received by198 Au grain brachytherapy physicians, it is necessary to use additional lead shielding equipment when preparing the treatment needles, i.e., when loading the grains. This study provides useful information on radiation exposure of physicians conducting198 Au permanent grain brachytherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
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