Scripting Occupational Badge Dosimetry Analysis for a Large Number of Clinics Using MATLAB
Presentations
PO-GePV-P-8 (Sunday, 7/25/2021) [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]
Purpose: To create a MATLAB code to automate and streamline occupational badge dosimetry monitoring and reporting for the oversight of a large number of hospitals and clinics.
Methods: As part of a physics group that is responsible for radiation safety for about 50 institutions, it is often difficult and time-consuming to review dosimeter badge reports on a large scale. For this work, we only looked at sites that are covered by our physics group that use Landauer dosimeters. Landauer provides a tabular spreadsheet of badge measurements that can be downloaded from their website. However, challenges arise from the number of sites covered, site-specific ALARA levels, site-specific effective dose equivalent (EDE) factors, missed or unreported badges, and fetal badges. Manual analysis for the total number of sites as well as specificity of each site makes it tedious to notify any individual of exceeding ALARA levels. A MATLAB code was generated to organize badge categories, summarize any exceeding badge tolerances, and generate PDF reports for analysis.
Results: The MATLAB script generates a modified Excel spreadsheet that organizes badge categories into separate tabs as follows: total deep dose equivalent badges, fetal badges, extremity badges, EDE conversion doses, area monitoring, and missed or unreturned badges. Each tab is sorted in descending order with conditional formatting of any exceeding ALARA values. A summary tab is generated as a quick reference that includes only badges exceeding ALARA levels, any fetal badge readings, and any missed or unreturned badges. A word notification document is generated for any individual that exceeds an ALARA level.
Conclusion: MATLAB is a powerful tool that can generate an organized spreadsheet and efficiently analyze necessary occupational dosimeter badge measurements.
Keywords
Computer Software, Radiation Dosimetry
Taxonomy
Not Applicable / None Entered.
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