Effect of Silicone Rubber-Lead (SR-Pb) Thickness on Dose Reduction and Image Quality as Gonad Shield

BACKGROUND: Some organs in the body are sensitive to radiation such as eyes, breast, and gonads. Protection of sensitive organs against radiation is necessary. Recently, many sensitive organ shields have been developed from different materials. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the dose reduction and image quality from implementation of Silicone Rubber-Lead (SR-Pb) as an alternative gonad shield in digital radiography (DR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this experimental study, the SR-Pb gonad shields with various thicknesses of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm were synthesized. This study used the Pb percentage of 5 wt%. An anthropomorphic phantom was used in abdomen plain examinations. The results obtained from the use of the SR-Pb was compared with standard gonad shield, i.e. lead apron. To measure the dose reduction, the Piranha detector was used. The image quality assessment was evaluated with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). RESULTS: This study showed the dose reduction was significant for all SR-Pb thicknesses, and incrementally increased with the increase of the SR-Pb thickness. The minimum and maximum of dose reduction were 22.8% for 2 mm and 66.9% for 10 mm SR-Pb, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compared to the reference image without gonad shield, the SNR and CNR do not significantly change. Hence, the SR-Pb is probably to be used as an alternative gonad shield.