New real-time patient radiation dosimeter for use in radiofrequency catheter ablation

In a previous study, we reported on a novel (prototype) real-time patient dosimeter with non-toxic phosphor sensors. In this study, we developed new types of sensors that were smaller than in the previous prototype, and clarified the clinical feasibility of our newly proposed dosimeter. Patient dose measurements obtained with the newly proposed real-time dosimeter were compared with measurements obtained using a calibrated radiophotoluminescence glass reference dosimeter (RPLD). The reference dosimeters were set at almost the same positions as the new real-time dosimeter sensors. We found excellent correlations between the reference RPLD measurements and those obtained using our new real-time dosimeter (r² = 0.967). However, the new type of dosimeter was found to underestimate radiation skin dose measurements when compared with an RPLD. The most probable reason for this was the size reduction in the phosphor sensor of the new type of dosimeter. We believe that, as a result of reducing the phosphor sensor size, the backscattered X-ray irradiation was underestimated. However, the new dosimeter can accurately determine the absorbed dose by correcting the measured value with calibration factors. The calibration factor for the new type dosimeter was determined (by linear regression) to be ∼1.15. New real-time patient dosimeter design would be an effective tool for the real-time measurement of patient skin doses during interventional radiology treatments.