A STUDY ON THE ANNUAL EQUIVALENT DOSES RECEIVEDBY CARDIOLOGISTS IN A UK HOSPITAL

摘要

A dose assessment study was carried out to determine the likely annual equivalent doses received by variousrnparts of a cardiologist’s body. High sensitivity GR-200 thermoluminescent dosemeters were attached torncardiologists’ foreheads, little fingers, wrists, elbows, knees and ankles. Three common cardiology proceduresrnwere investigated, namely, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), permanent pacemakerrninsertion (PPM) and left heart catheterisation (LHC). Dose monitoring was done on a case-by-case basis. Data onrnten cases of each procedure were gathered. The projected annual equivalent doses were computed by averagingrnthe ten doses measured at each site for each examination type and finding out from the cardiologists how manyrncases of PTCA, PPM and LHC they do in a year. Results in this study show that for the lens of the eye, thernprojected annual equivalent dose is below 10 mSv and for the other body parts, it is below 100 mSv per year. Thernstudy demonstrated that the methodology used can help to optimise radiation protection in diagnostic radiology.