Shielding requirements for mammography

Abstract

Shielding requirements for mammography installations have been investigated. To apply the methodologies of NCRP Report No. 49, the scatter-to-incident ratio of a typical mammography beam was measured, and the broad beam transmission was calculated for several representative beam spectra. These calculations were found to compare favorably with published low kVp tungsten-targeted x-ray transmission through a variety of shielding materials. Radiation shielding tables were developed from the calculated transmissions through Pb, concrete, gypsum, steel, plate glass, and water, using a technique which eliminates the "add one HVL" rule. It is concluded that Mo-targeted x-ray beams operated at 35 kVp require half the shielding of W-targeted beams operated at 50 kVp, and that adequate, cost-effective shielding calculations will consider alternatives to Pb.