Interventional radiologists are exposed to scattered radiation. Exposure in chronic low dose radiation, can cause stochastic and deterministic effects [1]. The use of efficient radioprotective equipment is necessary to further reduce interventional radiologist’s radiation exposure. The motivation of this study was that limited information about the radioprotective drapes exists in the literature. The aim of this study was the evaluation of a radioprotective drape.

Α 0.25 mm Pb equivalent drape (Ecolab, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA) with dimensions of 41 cm by 41 cm was evaluated (Figure 1). Experiments were performed using two physical anthropomorphic phantoms (Rando – Alderson Research Labs, CA, USA). The phantom - operator was placed in the position of the primary interventionalist. The second phantom was oriented in the head – first supine position on the table. In each simulation, 16 thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) were placed on the phantom – operator (Figure 2). Τo evaluate the...

The results of this study show that the drapes considerably contribute to the primary operator’s radioprotection. Specifically, a reduction up to 75% for the abdominal area of the primary operator was recorded (Table 1). Moreover, radiation exposure of eye lenses, thyroid and genitals was reduced by an average of 59%, 65%, 60% respectively, due to the use of the radioprotective drape. However, drapes should be used with caution. Table 2 shows that Dose Area Product (DAP) and Peak Skin Dose (PSD) were increased by 20%...

Radiation exposure of the primary interventionalist can be reduced considerably using a radioprotective drape. However, the use of the drape needs caution as its misplacement could lead to higher doses for the patients and the operators.

Eleftherios Tzanis1MSc John Damilakis2PhD Dimitrios Tsetis3MD, PhD 1Department of Medical Physics, Medical School, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Heraklion 71003, Crete, Greece. 2Department of Medical Physics,University Hospital of Heraklion, Medical School, University of Crete, Crete, Greece. 3Department of Radiology, Interventional Radiology Unit, University Hospital of Heraklion, Medical School, University of Crete, Crete, Greece. Address for correspondence: [email protected]

[1] E. Picanto, E. Vano, L. Domenici, M. Bottai, I. Thierry. Cancer and non-cancer brain and eye effects of chronic low-dose ionizing radiation exposure BMC Cancer, 12:157, 2012