Shielding and Facility Design

Allow Medical Radiation Physics to design your shielding, or at least review the preliminary design you’ve been provided.  You’ll be sure to get a design that meets your specific needs, both now and in the future.

Accelerator manufacturers provide standard designs that are useful starting points, but often require significant modification. For example, every “direct shield” door design we’ve seen a manufacturer recommend can “leak” radiation at its edges, depending on the door location. MRP can identify and offer solutions to this problem prior to construction. 

Future use is also a concern we address in our evaluations. We recently designed a facility for a client intending to do only IMRT. We pointed out that changes in future treatment methods may require a higher energy accelerator. The design being proposed could accommodate a higher energy accelerator if one change were made. Neutron shielding would need to be added to the door. With this single modification, the limited use facility can deliver clinically useful treatments well into the future.  

Whether or not we design the shielding, MRP can determine the effectiveness of the design by making the appropriate radiation measurements outside your facility immediately after the accelerator is installed. We will provide you with a detailed survey report documenting compliance with regulatory requirements prior to beginning clinical operations.