Evaluation of occupational and tutor doses in veterinary radiology

Veterinary Radiology is a medical specialty that applies ionizing radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This type of application in the field of medicine has an animal as a patient and, for this reason, presents restrictions and different precautions from the application of techniques in humans. Currently, there are no requirements established in rules and procedures published by regulators regarding activities related to the radiological protection of animal patients, but there are requirements to be fulfilled regarding the protection of workers and the public (companions or caregivers). Considering that the patient in this case is irrational, restraining the animal during the procedure is still a challenge. Many are anesthetized, others are restrained mechanically or even by physical force exerted by the veterinary auxiliary container, the equipment operator, or the animal's tutor. Thus, the doses received by these individuals should be monitored and controlled, to guarantee safety during the execution of the procedure. The present work seeks to present a dosimetric evaluation of occupational exposures and of individuals involved, such as veterinary assistants and companions in veterinary medical radiodiagnosis services. With the purpose of specifying the difficulties due to the execution of the animal exam since the service is personalized and requires greater care. The patient (animal), like a pediatric patient, is considered non-collaborative and does not understand the importance of proper positioning, therefore requiring greater care and personalized care. To perform the dosimetric evaluation, thermoluminescent dosimeters were used in routine examinations at a Veterinary Imaging Diagnostic Center in the city of Rio de Janeiro. A total of 40 exposures referring to the procedures of routine examinations of the thorax and extremities were followed, considering animals of different sizes. The results obtained were that the doses are higher in routine chest examinations, as expected, as they present higher Voltage (kV) techniques due to the thickness of the region to be radiographed in the animal. However, the impact of doses for routine extremity exams is also important to be monitored, indicating that it is of paramount importance to use PPE in all exams to mitigate doses to the lowest possible value. According to the National Nuclear Energy Commission these values that are considered investigation level are 1 mSv/month for lens and for whole body, and 20 mSv/month for extremities. It can be concluded that monitoring the extremities of X-ray operators should be mandatory and should be a mandatory normative requirement. As for tutors, the doses received by procedures would be the same as those of the operators, but the frequency of exposure would not be the same, making the containment procedure less radiological risk. (author)