effectiveness evaluation of skin covers against intravascular brachytherapy sources using varskin3 code

background and objective: the most common intravascular brachytherapy sources include 32p, 188re, 106rh and 90sr/90y. in this research, skin absorbed dose for different covering materials in dealing with these sources were evaluated and the best covering material for skin protection and reduction of absorbed dose by radiation staff was recognized and recommended. method: four materials including polyethylene, cotton and two different kinds of plastic were proposed as skin covers and skin absorbed dose at different depths for each kind of the materials was calculated separately using the varskin3 code. results: the results showed that for all sources, skin absorbed dose was minimized when using polyethylene. considering this material as skin cover, maximum and minimum doses at skin surface were related to 90sr/90y and 106rh, respectively. conclusion: polyethylene was found the most effective cover in reducing skin dose and protecting the skin. furthermore, proper agreement between the results of varskin3 and other experimental measurements indicated that vraskin3 is a powerful tool for skin dose calculations when working with beta emitter sources. therefore, it can be utilized in dealing with the issue of radiation protection.