Study of the prostatic microvasculature and its implication in prostatic arterial embolization

Abstract

TXPurpose: Concerns about brain radiation exposures in interventionalists have led to recent studies of attenuating caps. Placement of dosimeters on the inner surface of the cap may have been more representative of scalp exposure than brain exposure. This study examines several common types of shields for their effects on simulated brain exposure. Materials: An operator's head was simulated by an acrylic head phantom containing a dosimeter (RadeyeTM) in the intracranial cavity. The head was positioned relative to a scatter-producing acrylic patient phantom as during transfemoral angiography of the chest or abdomen, on a Philips Allura unit. Three sets of 60 second fluoroscopy exposures were performed and exposure data collected for each combination of operator shielding depicted in the Table . T-test applied. Results: Each shield combination reduced exposures significantly (po.05) compared to unshielded (Table 1). Reductions with wearable shields ranged from 18% (cap) to 25% (cap þ thyroid shield þ glasses) without significant differences between any two combinations. Non-wearable shields reductions were 40% (SCS þ USTS [with thyroid shield]) to 95% (SPRPS), with significant difference between them (po.001) and for each vs. each wearable combination (po.05). Conclusions: Cap and other wearable shields produced modest reductions in exposure to brain location, without significant difference between thyroid shield or cap. Greater reductions occurred with non-wearable shields.