No abstract

Background: Recently, X-rays radiation hazards rise with the exposure of patients and personnel. Exposure of people to radiation in the operating rooms is an important problem to study the safety of personnel and patients. To date, few studies are accomplished to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among personnel in hospitals. The current study aimed at evaluating KAP level of radiation hazards and protection amongst personnel in the operating room. Methods: A questionnaire-based, cross sectional study was conducted in 11 provinces of Iran from 2014 to 2015. Respondents in the current study were 332 personnel of operating room, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. Demographic characteristics, as well as knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of operating room personnel were collected. The selected hospitals were 3 types (educational, non-educational, and private clinics) located in 5 different regions of Iran (Tehran, Center, East, North, and West). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and statistical analyses were accomplished with the one-way ANOVA. Results: The current study results showed no statistically significant difference in the KAP level of operating room personnel towards radiation protection for both genders (P = 0.1), time since graduation (P = 0.4), and work experience (P = 0.1). According to the analyses, the highest level of KAP concerning radiation protection was observed in the personnel of private clinics (mean score = 53.60) and the lowest value was observed in non-educational hospitals (mean score = 45.61). Besides, the KAP level was significantly higher in the Northern region (P < 0.0001) and the lowest was observed in the hospital personnel of the Central region (mean score = 34.27). Conclusions:The current study findings showed that the level of KAP regarding radiation protection among operating room personnel was inadequate and it is necessary to pay attention to the principles of radiation protection in the operating room. In this regard, holding courses on radiation protection and an elaborate educational program might be useful.

Thyroid exposure to radiation in brain computed tomography (CT) scan is of great value since it is considered as a vital organ. This study aimed to investigate the absorbed dose of thyroid by various protocols of head CT in patients referring to 64-slice CT scan center and to compare the values with the calculated dose by imaging performance and assessment of CT (ImPACT) method. Also, the values of CT scan dose index (CTDI) were calculated with semiconductor detector. In this cross-sectional study, 120 outpatients including three groups of forty individuals over 40 years old referring to the hospital radiology centers in Tehran for head CT were chosen and 3 thermo-luminescence dosimeter (TLD-GR200) were applied on thyroid gland of each patient. For brain CT, Absorbed and effective doses of thyroid gland were calculated by ImPACT software. In addition, semiconductor detector in head CTDI phantom calculated CTDI for the applied protocols. Mean effective dose of thyroid gland in brain scan group was calculated by TLD and ImPACT software which showed no significant difference (P < 0.001). Mean effective dose of thyroid gland in unidirectional and bi-directional sinus scan by TLD and ImPACT software were different significantly (P < 0.001). Also, the differences between CTDI values shown by brain and sinus scan protocol with semiconductor detector and those CTDI were significant (P < 0.001). The calculated values of absorbed dose and effective doses of thyroid by TLD and ImPACT software were not significantly different. Mean effective dose calculated for thyroid gland in head scans by TLD and ImPACT was less than the annual permissive level for thyroid gland suggested by International Committee on Radiological Protection. In this study, calculated values of thyroid effective dose in brain scan with 64-slice scanner were less than the calculated values in a similar study.

Background: An early diagnosis of breast cancer relates directly to an accurate treatment plan and strategy. Early detec on of breast cancer before its development would be a significant reduc on of morbidity and mortality rates. The aim of this preliminary study is to inves gate the sensi vity of Wide Angle X-ray diffrac on (WAXRD) method on women hair samples of healthy and breast cancer pa ents in comparison with other modali es such as synchrotron based XRD beam and mammography. Materials and Methods: Hair samples were taken from occipital region of skull from healthy and breast cancer pa ents (43 women) were analyzed using X-ray diffrac on and the results were analyzed and compared with mammography and pathology reports. Results: The results of analyzed samples showed the sensi vity for purposed WAXRD method was 86% in comparison with synchrotron based XRD beam (64%) and also with mammography (70%). Conclusion: This non-invasive method is less harmful and is more sensi ve than the two other methods and help the physicians for choosing accurate treatment plan.

The main purpose of this pilot study was to assess the regional diagnostic reference level (RDRL) of computed tomography (CT) examinations to optimise medical exposure in five pediatric medical imaging centers in Tehran, Iran where the most frequent CT examinations were investigated. For each patient, CT volume dose indexes (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP) in each group were recorded and their third quartile was calculated and set as RDRL. Pediatrics were divided into four age groups (&lt;1; 1–5; 5–10 and 10–15 years). Then, the third quartile values for head, chest and abdomen-pelvic CTs were, respectively, calculated for each group in terms of CTDIvol: 21.3, 24.4, 24.2 and 36.3 mGy; 2.9, 3.2, 3.7 and 5.7 mGy; 3.7, 5.7, 6.3 and 6.8 mGy; and in terms of DLP: 322.2, 390.1, 424.9 and 694.1 mGy.cm; 53.1, 115.2, 145.3 and 167.6 mGy.cm and 128.7, 317.7, 460.2 and 813.8 mGy.cm. Finally, RDRLs were compared with other countries and preceding data in Iran. As a result, CTDIVOL values were lower than other national and international studies except for chest and abdomen-pelvic values obtained in Europe. Moreover, this matter applied to DLP so that other formerly reported values were higher than the present study but European values for chest and abdomen-pelvic scans and also Tehran studies conducted in 2012. Variation of scan parameters (tube voltage (kVp), tube current (mAs) and scan length), CTDIvol and DLP of different procedures among different age groups were statistically significant (P-value &lt; 0.05). The variations in dose between CT departments as well as between identical scanners suggest a large potential for optimization of examinations relative to which this study provides helpful data.