Avaliação da exposição ocupacional em procedimentos intervencionistas utilizando detector de estado sólido.

Abstract

The medical team is frequently exposed to high doses during interventional procedures, experiencing the highest occupational dose among all hospital services that use X-rays. The proximity of the professional to the patient and the X-ray tube, the duration of the procedures, patient thickness, and the parameters used are aspects that impact the professional’s exposure. Understanding the risks to professionals, this study aimed to identify the areas of highest exposure in an interventional radiology room and estimate the effective dose received by the team during procedures. For this purpose, head and abdominal interventional procedures were simulated using PMMA phantoms to represent the patient, and measurements of air kerma rates were taken using a solid-state detector. The solid-state detector was positioned in locations where the medical staff might be during interventional procedures, specifically: 53 cm from the patient, corresponding to the main physician's position (position X); 109 cm from the patient, representing the assistant physician's position (position Y); and 50 cm from point X, where the professional operating the equipment is located (position Z). A posteriori, the conversion of air kerma rates into effective dose was performed using the conversion coefficients obtained from ICRP 74. The results showed that changing the position from X to Y reduced the dose by up to 82%. Furthermore, when suspended shielding was used at position Z, there was a 99% reduction in dose. Regarding the simulator object size, the results clearly showed that increasing the simulator object diameter from 16 cm to 32 cm resulted in a 26-fold increase in the dose received by the main physician at position X.