Program Information
Staff Radiation Protection for Oropharyngeal Motility Studies
X Jiang*, A Dachman, I Reiser, K Little, ZF Lu, The University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL
Presentations
PO-BPC-Exhibit Hall-1 (Saturday, March 7, 2015) Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose:
A potential radiation safety concern during oropharyngeal motility (OPM) studies is the radiation dose to the speech pathologist, who usually stands close to the seated patient and receive relatively high scattered radiation. In this study, we report our efforts at measuring the scattered radiation distribution pattern and communicating the findings using easy visual aids, so that the speech pathologist is better informed of the locations of the high exposure areas and can adjust their position during the procedure to reduce exposure.
Methods:
Scattered radiation distribution pattern was measured in two suites equipped with Siemens Luminos Agile fluoroscopy systems. An anthropomorphic phantom was used to simulate the patient. The study was performed in the upright position with standard OPM protocol. The scattered radiation exposure rate was measured using a survey meter around the phantom at 15° intervals and at 1.0m, 1.5m and 2.0m distances. The high exposure areas were identified and marked with warning tapes on the floor. The speech pathologists were informed of the results and advised to avoid the marked areas during beam-on time.
Results:
Two areas with relatively high scatter exposure rate were identified. The first one (~50 mR/h at 1m) is lateral to the patient, and is caused by the gap between the bed and bedside lead drape. This is also the area where the speech pathologist tends to stand for easy access to the patient. The second area (~35 mR/h at 1m) is behind the patient bed at ~30° from the x-ray tube, which is caused by scattered radiation coming through the gap between the bedside shield and the x-ray tube.
Conclusion:
High exposure areas during OPM studies were found to be limited to a few isolated locations and were system-dependent. Marking these areas helps the operators easily recognize them and adjust their position accordingly.
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