Evaluation of the performance of radioprotection ionization chambers used in radiometric survey of clinical systems

Abstract

The use of ionizing radiation for medical purposes was a major advancement for society due to the various possibilities of use for the treatment and diagnosis of diseases. On the other hand, knowledge about the damage caused by the biological effects of ionizing radiation requires a continuous improvement of the quality control of diagnostic radiology. Radiation detector equipment is used to measure the levels of radiation emitted by sources be they natural or artificial. For practicality and precision, among the most commonly used detectors are the ionization chambers. Especially in outdoor areas climatic factors may affect the behavior of these detectors at the time of measurement, but Brazilian legislation only recommends the calibration of these measuring instruments in a traceable laboratory every two years to ensure their reliability. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of an ionization chamber used in radioprotection measurements in diagnostic radiology equipment, considering the climatic variations in the different regions of Brazil. For this, a system was developed to simulate the environmental conditions found for the parameters of temperature and humidity at the time of clinical measurements, making it possible to estimate the influence of these factors on the values obtained.