Evaluation of radiation propagation by the veterinarian's hands in veterinary radiology

This work aims to analyze the dose that an Occupationally Exposed Individual (OEI) in veterinary radiology receives due to radiation spread by the veterinarian's hands during a radiography exam. To evaluate the ambient dose equivalent (H ∗ (10)) two ionization chambers were used. One at head position, 10X6-1800, 20 cm away from the table and another at the position of the inguinal region, positioned ate the end of the examination table. The patient was simulated through a pet bottle with 1.5 L of water, which scatters the radiation in the same way as a medium-sized animal. The OEI hand was simulated with an anthropomorphic hand phantom and a lead glove was used during measurements. The parameters used were 60 kV and tube current of 200 mA. The highest value of H ∗ (10) was 6.49 μSv for the OEI, a situation in which the glove was not present. And when comparing measurements with and without the glove, in which the hand was in the same position, the dose was reduced by up to 30.5 % in the veterinary. (author)