Evaluation of an active personal dosimetry system in interventional radiologyand neuroradiology: Preliminary results

Active personal dosimeters (APD) supply real-time data on radiation dose rates and equivalent doses, enabling reduction of operator exposure to radiation in diagnostic and surgical procedures. Data from the use of the Raysafe i2 APD system in an angiography room are reported. Preliminary characterisation of the APD system was first carried out in terms of angular dependence and of H_p(10) response during the simulation of five typical surgical protocols. Reference measurements, simultaneously obtained from TLDs, were used to obtain a correction factor. APD data for patients and for primary and secondary operators were then recorded over 52 surgical procedures. The correlation between kerma air product (KAP) and reference point air kerma (K_ar) and operator dose as a function of position with respect to the source of radiation is reported. The data indicate that the APD system could help operators to optimise behaviours and use of room protection to effectively minimise radiation dose.