Dose distribution under external eye shields for high energy electrons.

Effectiveness of eye shields in reducing the dose to the eye lens from 6 and 9 MeV electron beams from a linear accelerator has been evaluated. The thickness of the shields made from cerrobend was such that only bremsstrahlung photons were transmitted. A shield with a diameter of 1.3 cm and thickness of 1 cm was adequate for the 9 MeV electron beam. The optimum shield to phantom surface distance was 1 cm or less. The same shield with a thickness of 0.5 cm was found to be ineffective with a 6 MeV electron beam. The dose under the shield is greater than predicted by transmission measurements because of the contribution of phantom and electron cone generated scattered electrons.