title: The role of shielding in superficial X-ray therapy.
abstract: Superficial X-ray therapy is applicable in the kilovoltage range for the treatment of the cancer. Pb shielding is used to protect radiation-sensitive organs since the doses are high, however the question about shielding efficiency is still open. The role of shielding was investigated in this work based on the results of dose measurements performed using a set of pencil dosemeters and thermoluminescent dosimetries. According to the measured angular dose distributions on the phantom surface during X-ray irradiation, the area near the applicator exposed to the waste irradiation was evaluated and Pb shielding of a corresponding size was chosen. It has been shown that the dose in the area of interest decreases non-linearly, however high shielding efficiency (~90 %) remains almost stable in the whole area. No significant contribution of secondary scattered photons from Pb has been observed. The role of Pb shielding in superficial X-ray therapy is discussed on the basis of the obtained results.
authors.affiliation: Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania. nikolajus.medvedevas@stud.ktu.lt
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Medvedevas
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adliene
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laurikaitiene
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrejaitis
mesh_terms: D006257:Head / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000737:chemistry; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry; D014964:X-Ray Therapy
chemical_list: D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D007854:Lead