PET/CT shielding design comparisons

Abstract

The objective of this project was to compare two different methods of calculating dose through lead-shielded walls in the PET/CT suite at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. The ultimate goal was to see which of the two methods agreed with the actual physical measurements. Minimizing shielding needed in future suite designs would result in a possible reduction of structural as well as financial burden. Formulas and attenuation coefficients following the basic January 2006 AAPM guidelines were used to calculate unattenuated radiation through existing lead walls. The computer code MCNPX was used to simulate the leaded walls of the PET/CT suite and provide another set of results. These two sets of results were compared to doses gathered from OSL badges placed around the suite for a period of two months. For this type of problem, MCNPX proved to provide results that were inconsistent and unreliable. It was concluded that the traditional computational methods are the most reliable for designing shielding in a PET/CT suite.