Development of a novel artifact-free eye shield based on silicon rubber-lead composition in the CT examination of the head

The aim of this work was to develop a novel artifact-free eye shield and evaluate its effect on the dose received by the eye lens and the resulting image quality in the CT examination of the head. A new material for an eye shield was synthesised from silicon rubber (SR) and lead (Pb) using a simple method. The percentage of Pb was varied from 0 to 5% wt. An anthropomorphic head phantom was scanned with and without the SR-Pb eye shield, and compared with a tungsten paper (WP) eye shield. The distance from the eye shield and head was varied from 0 to 5 cm. The dose to the eye lens was measured using photo-luminescence detectors (PLDs). The presence of artifacts was determined by measuring CT numbers at different eye lens locations and by subtracting images with and without the eye shield. The dose reduction increases with increasing Pb content in the SR-Pb eye shield. A 5% wt SR-Pb eye shield reduced the eye lens dose by up to 50%, whereas the WP eye shield reduced the dose by up to 86%. The CT numbers in images with the SR-Pb eye shield in the regions of both eyes and the center of the head phantom is similar to those without the eye shield, indicating that there is no artifact in the resulting image. Using the WP eye shield, there is considerable artifact with the CT number increasing by up to 700% in the regions of both eyes and the center of the head. It is found that the distance between the SR-Pb eye shield and the head does not affect either the dose or the resulting images. A SR-Pb-based eye shield can be applied in clinical environments and should be placed directly above the eye surface for dose optimisation. (paper)