Air kerma to $Hp$(3) conversion coefficients for photons from 10 keV to 10 MeV, calculated in a cylindrical phantom

G. Gualdrini (1) , J. Bordy (2) , J. Daures (2) , E. Fantuzzi (1) , P. Ferrari (1) , F. Mariotti (1) , F. Vanhavere (3)

1 ENEA - Agenzia Nazionale per le nuove Tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile = Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
2 LNHB - Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel
3 Belgian Nuclear Research Centre

In the framework of the ORAMED project (Optimization of RAdiation protection for MEDical staff ), funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme, different studies were aimed at improving the quality of radiation protection in interventional radiology and nuclear medicine. The main results of the project were presented during a final workshop held in Barcelona in January 2011, the proceedings of which are available in the open literature. One of the ORAMED tasks was focused on the problem of eye-lens photon exposure of the medical staff, a topic that gained more importance especially after the ICRP decision to lower the limiting equivalent dose to 20 mSv per year. The present technical note has the scope, besides briefly summarising the physical reasons of the proposal and the practical implications, to provide, in tabular form, a set of air kerma to $Hp$(3) conversion coefficients based on the adoption of a theoretical cylindrical model that is well suited for reproduction of the mass and the shape of a human head.

Keywords: air kerma; nuclear medicine; Radiation protection; dosimetry

Domains: Nuclear medicine; Bioengineering; Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; Nuclear Theory [nucl-th]

G. Gualdrini, J. Bordy, J. Daures, E. Fantuzzi, P. Ferrari, et al.. Air kerma to $Hp$(3) conversion coefficients for photons from 10 keV to 10 MeV, calculated in a cylindrical phantom. Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 2013, 154, pp.517 - 521. ⟨10.1093/rpd/ncs269⟩. ⟨cea-01795639⟩