Managing occupational doses with smartphones in interventional radiology

This study presents a prototype smartphone application for occupational dosimetry in interventional practices based on electronic personal dosimeters to assist in dose monitoring.

The prototype receives and records information from the occupational dose report containing the cumulative dose of electronic personal dosimeters worn over the apron at chest level and electronic area dosimeters located on C-arms (reference dosimeters), for each fluoroscopy-guided procedure. Using their smartphones, personnel involved in interventional practices can review and compare their occupational records with an investigation level, the dose limits, and their department colleagues (anonymously). The ratio between H_p (10) measured by the personal and the reference dosimeters at the C-arm is presented as an indicator of consistent use of suspended operator shield. Some general results extracted from the first months of use are presented.

The reference dosimeter located at the C-arm (without lead protection and acting as an ambient dosimeter) recorded in one of the laboratories 217 mSv during 308 procedures over 5 months, showing an indication of the radiation risk present in an interventional laboratory. The ratio between the personal cumulative dose and the dose at a reference C-arm dosimeter ranged from 0.2% to 1.67% (a factor of 8.5) for different interventionalists. These differences suggest different protection habits among interventional operators, as well as a target for dose reduction.

With this system, professionals have easy access to their occupational dosimetry records (including information on the workload) in the setting of their interventional departments, to thereby actively engage in the protection process.