Evaluation of Radiation Doses Received by Physicians during Permanent 198Au Grain Implant Brachytherapy for Oral Cancer

Autor: Yohei Inaba, Keiichi Jingu, Masaki Fujisawa, Kazuki Otomo, Hiroki Ishii, Toshiki Kato, Yuuki Murabayashi, Masatoshi Suzuki, Masayuki Zuguchi, Koichi Chida
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Applied Sciences, Vol 14, Iss 14, p 6010 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 14146010
2076-3417
DOI: 10.3390/app14146010
Popis: 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 performing 198Au 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 performing 198Au 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 by 198Au 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 conducting 198Au permanent grain brachytherapy.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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