title: Cell-phone interference with pocket dosimeters.
abstract: Accurate reporting of personal dose is required by regulation for hospital personnel that work with radioactive material. Pocket dosimeters are commonly used for monitoring this personal dose. We show that operating a cell phone in the vicinity of a pocket dosimeter can introduce large and erroneous readings of the dosimeter. This note reports a systematic study of this electromagnetic interference. We found that simple practical measures are enough to mitigate this problem, such as increasing the distance between the cell phone and the dosimeter or shielding the dosimeter, while maintaining its sensitivity to ionizing radiation, by placing it inside a common anti-static bag.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 987521 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-7521, USA. ddjajaputra@unmc.edu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Djajaputra
authors.forename: Ramasamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nehru
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bruch
authors.forename: Komanduri M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ayyangar
authors.forename: Natarajan V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Raman
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Enke
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D040421:Cell Phone; D004868:Equipment Failure; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity