E. Saeedian et al.: Radioprotection 2025, 60( 1), 57 – 64 59 Fig. 1. Imaging setup; two small TLD-100 chips were placed on the surface of the animals, and the adopter was standing close to the pet, wearing a protective apron.
2.5 Equivalent dose to the fingers and body of adopters
As stated in the previous section, the immobilization of the animals during imaging should not be performed by the radiation workers. Therefore, the animal adopters, are asked to hold the animals. Positioning of the animals is often more difficult than the human patients, even children, as they do not follow the orders of the radiographers. Almost all of the images are performed with the assistance of their adopters, as the pets are relaxed in the presence of a familiar individual.
In this section, the dose to the fingers of the adopters holding their pet, Hp( 0.07), and the personal dose equivalent to their body, Hp( 10), were measured by TLDs. Before beginning the experimental study, the animal adopters were informed and explained about the potential hazards of medical imaging procedures, and written consents were prepared. They were also instructed to use lead aprons with a thickness of 0.5 millimeters of lead available in the hospital. For whole-body dosimetry and obtaining Hp( 10) doses, dosimeters were placed under the lead aprons.
Three TLD-100 chips were placed in a plastic badge which has been designed in the form of a card necklace for people’ s convenience for measuring Hp( 10) to each adopter. For measuring the dose to the hand( finger) of each person, two chips were installed on a ring as shown in Figure 2. The project duration was one month. During the month, 20 animals were imaged. Therefore the dose to 20 adopters were also measured, divided into 6 groups depending on the imaging site.
3 Results
A total of 20 radiography procedures were performed over a month in the Radiology Department of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. Over the past decade, there has been a rise in the utilization of radiography in veterinary medicine in Iran. This is a result of people’ s growing tendency toward pet adaption. Nevertheless, research on quantifying radiation exposure to animals and monitoring adopter dose equivalent with specific dosimeters is limited.
3.1 Measurement of the entrance skin dose to animals
As previously stated, TLD calibration is required for precise dosimetry. The calibration process utilized five sets of TLDs. Each group received a certain amount of exposure, for obtaining a calibration curve that displayed the dose in mGy versus the TLD reading or thermoluminescence intensity in nano Coulomb( nC)( Fig. 3). The calibration curves can be used for assessment of the entrance skin dose to the animals. Table 1 represents the range, mean value, and standard deviation of the entrance skin dose values measured for different animals undergoing diagnostic imaging using the Philips Practix unit.
3.2 Results regarding the calibration of dosimeters used for adopters( HP( 10) and Hp( 0.07))
The calibrations for obtaining the operational quantities in the use of TLDs for absolute dosimetry are displayed as calibration curves in Figures 4 and 5.