Abstract
Tungsten functional paper (TFP), which contains 80% tungsten by weight, has radiation‐shielding properties. We investigated the use of TFP for the protection of operators during interventional or therapeutic angiography. The air kerma rate of scattered radiation from a simulated patient was measured, with and without TFP, using a water‐equivalent phantom and fixed C‐arm fluoroscopy. Measurements were taken at the level of the operator's eye, chest, waist, and knee, with a variable number of TFP sheets used for shielding. A Monte Carlo simulation was also utilized to analyze the dose rate delivered with and without the TFP shielding. In cine mode, when the number of TFP sheets was varied through 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10, the respective reduction in the air kerma rate relative to no TFP shielding was as follows: at eye level, 24.9%, 29.9%, 41.6%, 50.4%, and 56.2%; at chest level, 25.3%, 33.1%, 34.9%, 46.1%, and 44.3%; at waist level, 45.1%, 57.0%, 64.4%, 70.7%, and 75.2%; and at knee level, 2.1%, 2.2%, 2.1%, 2.1%, and 2.1%. In fluoroscopy mode, the respective reduction in the air kerma rate relative to no TFP shielding was as follows: at eye level, 24.8%, 30.3%, 34.8%, 51.1%, and 58.5%; at chest level, 25.8%, 33.4%, 35.5%, 45.2%, and 44.4%; at waist level, 44.6%, 56.8%, 64.7%, 71.7%, and 77.2%; and at knee level, 2.2%, 0.0%, 2.2%, 2.8%, and 2.5%. The TFP paper exhibited good radiation‐shielding properties against the scattered radiation encountered in clinical settings, and was shown to have potential application in decreasing the radiation exposure to the operator during interventional radiology.
Highlights
Lead has been employed in radiation protection in a clinical setting for many years; its uses include shielding for operator and patient protection in X-ray radiography and computed tomography, as well as during electron beam radiotherapy
We investigated the use of Tungsten functional paper (TFP) for the protection of operators during interventional or therapeutic angiography
Tungsten functional paper (TFP: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), which is the paper with thickness of 0.3 mm and containing 80% tungsten powder by weight, has been developed as a lead free radiation shielding alternative, that has the advantages of paper in that it is easy to cut, fold, and stick onto other materials
Summary
Lead has been employed in radiation protection in a clinical setting for many years; its uses include shielding for operator and patient protection in X-ray radiography and computed tomography, as well as during electron beam radiotherapy. Radiation-shielding materials made of lead or lead equivalents are not flexible.[1,2] To overcome these problems, some researchers have explored ways of providing effective X-ray protection using alternative materials.[3,4,5,6] In an attempt to reduce the weight of protection materials, several vendors have developed composite lead-equivalent materials using mixtures of different elements such as lead, tin, copper, bismuthantimony, and yttrium.[7,8] Tungsten functional paper (TFP: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), which is the paper with thickness of 0.3 mm and containing 80% tungsten powder by weight, has been developed as a lead free radiation shielding alternative, that has the advantages of paper in that it is easy to cut, fold, and stick onto other materials. These characteristics make it flexible for many radiation-protection applications, such as in radiation-shielding surgical drapes, which have been reported based on bismuth and barium.[9,10,11,12,13,14,15]
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