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Scatter radiation intensities around a clinical digital breast tomosynthesis unit and the impact on radiation shielding considerations

Yang K, Li X, Liu B

Medical physics, 2016

13 citations

Abstract

Purpose: To measure the scattered radiation intensity around a clinical digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) unit and to provide updated data for radiation shielding design for DBT systems with tungsten-anode x-ray tubes.

Methods: The continuous distribution of scattered x-rays from a clinical DBT system (Hologic Selenia Dimensions) was measured within an angular range of 0°-180° using a linear-array x-ray detector (X-Scan 0.8f3-512, Detection Technology, Inc., Finland), which was calibrated for the x-ray spectrum range of the DBT unit. The effects of x-ray field size, phantom size, and x-ray kVp/filter combination were investigated. Following a previously developed methodology by Simpkin, scatter fraction was determined for the DBT system as a function of angle around the phantom center. Detailed calculations of the scatter intensity from a DBT system were demonstrated using the measured scatter fraction data.

Results: For the 30 and 35 kVp acquisition, the scatter-to-primary-ratio and scatter fraction data closely matched with data previously measured by Simpkin. However, the measured data from this study demonstrated the nonisotropic distribution of the scattered radiation around a DBT system, with two strong peaks around 25° and 160°. The majority scatter radiation (>70%) originated from the imaging detector assembly, instead of the phantom. With a workload from a previous survey performed at MGH, the scatter air kerma at 1 m from the phantom center for wall/door is 1.76 ×…

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