DOSIMETRY FOR THE LENS OF THE EYE, APPLICATIONS FOR MEDICAL STAFF INVOLVED IN INTERVENTIONAL PROCEDURES

In interventional radiology the working physicians are exposed to scattered radiation. Recent studies indicate that the lens of the eye may be even more sensitive to ionizing radiation than previously thought. This makes good methods for estimating lens doses necessary. The relation between eye dose to physicians and patient dose-area product, absorbed dose to the lens and the dose to a measuring point at the forehead as well as the effect of eight different models of protective eyewear is measured. A correlation between physicians eye dose and patient dose-area product was found and a dosemeter at the forehead was found to underestimate the dose to the lens of the eye with 25%. The effect of protective eyewear was shown to depend strongly on the angle in which the radiation strikes and the design of the eyewear.