The influence of operator position, height and body orientation on eye lens dose in interventional radiology and cardiology: Monte Carlo simulations versus realistic clinical measurements

Objective:This paper aims to provide some practical recommendations to reduce eye lens dose for work-ers exposed to X-rays in interventional cardiology and radiology and also to propose an eye lens correc-tion factor when lead glasses are used.Methods:Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the variation of eye lens exposure with operatorposition, height and body orientation with respect to the patient and the X-ray tube. The paper also looksinto the efficiency of wraparound lead glasses using simulations. Computation results are compared withexperimental measurements performed in Spanish hospitals using eye lens dosemeters as well as withdata from available literature.Results:Simulations showed that left eye exposure is generally higher than the right eye, when the oper-ator stands on the right side of the patient. Operator height can induce a strong dose decrease by up to afactor of 2 for the left eye for 10-cm-taller operators. Body rotation of the operator away from the tube by45°–60°reduces eye exposure by a factor of 2. The calculation-based correction factor of 0.3 for wrap-around type lead glasses was found to agree reasonably well with experimental data.Conclusions:Simple precautions, such as the positioning of the image screen away from the X-ray source,lead to a significant reduction of the eye lens dose. Measurements and simulations performed in thiswork also show that a general eye lens correction factor of 0.5 can be used when lead glasses are wornregardless of operator position, height and body orientation.Postprint (author's final draft