Occupational doses to the eye lens in pediatric and adult noncardiac interventional radiology procedures

PURPOSE: ). METHODS: (10), was worn on the chest, over the apron. Furthermore, a database was created to register the demographic and dosimetric data of the procedures, as well as the name of the radiologist acting as first operator. RESULTS: ) despite a similar use of the ceiling-suspended screen. Lens doses were highly correlated with collar readings (with Pearson coefficients [r] ranging from 0.86 to 0.98) and with chest readings (with r ranging from 0.75 to 0.93). However, slopes of the linear regressions varied greatly among radiologists. CONCLUSIONS: There is real risk of exceeding the occupational dose limit to the eye lens in mixed interventional radiology rooms if radiation protection tools are not used properly. Regular monitoring of the lens dose is recommended, given lens exposure might easily exceed 6 mSv/yr. Using a collar dosimeter for this purpose might be suitable if it is preceded by an individualized regression analysis. The same radiation protection measures should be applied to interventional radiologists regardless of whether they are treating pediatric or adult patients.