Comparison of Five Developed Algorithms to Estimate Staff Effective Dose in Interventional Cardiology: Are They Interchangeable?

Introduction: Interventional procedures are becoming substantial contributors to collective radiation dose due to their increasing rate of application. This study examined the relationships between effective dose data derived from five developed algorithms (Netherlands Commission on Radiation Dosimetry (NCS) and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRPs) algorithms for single dosimetry and Niklason, NCRPd and Clerinx algorithms for double dosimetry) to assess whether they can be used interchangeably in the assessment of staff effective dose in interventional cardiology. Material and Methods: The study population consisted of thirteen radiation workers (eight cardiologists, two technicians and three nurses) were involved in cardiac interventional procedures. Effective doses with thermoluminescence dosemeters were estimated for the duration of two months using five algorithms. The linear correlation and Bland-Altman analysis were performed to assess relationships and the agreement between effective doses calculated by the algorithms respectively. Results and Conclusion: We found significant correlation coefficients between the all effective doses calculated using the algorithms. Comparisons of two algorithms showed significant differences between estimated effective doses ( p 0� 05). Limit of agreements were wide (NCS vs. NCRPd: −0.406 to 0.280 mSv and NCS vs. Niklason: −0.035 to 0.401 mSv, respectively) and considerable disagreement was found between these algorithms and despite strong correlations, should not be used interchangeably for assessment of effective dose.