BackgroundFemale breasts are exposed to scattered radiation regardless of not being included in the primary field during head CT. This study aimed to investigate whether the use of lead shielding is beneficial in dose reduction to the breasts during head CT.Patients and methodsThe study was performed in two different hospitals on two different CT units and included 120 patients. Half of the measurements (n = 60) was conducted without the use of lead shielding and the other half (n = 60) with the use of lead shielding of 0.5 mm equivalent thickness.ResultsSignificant skin dose reduction to the breasts during head CT in both hospitals with the use of lead shielding was discovered; 81% (338.2 ± 43.7 μGy to 64.3 ± 18.8 μGy) in Hospital A and 74% (from 253.1 ± 35.1 μGy to 65.3 ± 16.9 μGy) in Hospital B.ConclusionsConsidering the assumed carcinogenic effect of low doses of radiation, high frequency of the head CT scans and the significant reduction of radiation doses to the highly radiosensitive breasts, the use of lead shielding is highly recommendable.
The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of body mass index (BMI) on dose area product (DAP), effective dose (E), dose to the organs and image quality (IQ) on 200 patients referred to pelvic radiography. Patients were classified into three groups according to BMI: normal (<24.99), overweight (25.0–29.99) and obese (>30). The results showed 52% and 135% higher DAP for overweight and obese patients compared to normal-weight patients (p < 0.001). A 46 and 123% rise of E for overweight and obese patients compared to normal-weight patients (p < 0.001) was discovered. Overweight patients received 37% higher dose and obese patients 107% higher dose to the organs compared to normal-weight patients. There were no statistically significant differences between IQ, except between normal weight and overweight patients. A strong correlation (r = 0.733) was found between BMI and DAP and between BMI and E (r = 0.776).
The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of collimation in thoracic spine radiography on patient exposure and image quality. The study was performed on 84 patients referred to thoracic spine radiography. Patients were randomly divided into two equal groups of 42. The first group was imaged according to the standard collimation protocol used in one of the hospitals in Croatia while the second group was imaged by applying ?optimal? collimation, image field size was individually collimated for each patient or according to the greatest image field collimation depicted in professional literature. For each patient body mass index, image field size, exposure conditions and dose area product were noted and absorbed doses by organs were calculated, image quality was assessed. There were no statistically significant differences in BMI between the two groups of patients. With the optimal collimation the size of the imaging field in the anteroposterior projection was reduced by 45 % ( p < 0.001) and in the lateral projection by 41 % (p < 0.001). The study also showed reduced values of DAP for anteroposterior projection by 34 % ( p = 0.007) and for lateral projection by 23 % ( p = 0.040). The mean absorbed dose to the selected organs decreased by 26 % in the anteroposterior projection and by 28 % in the lateral projection. In addition, the optimal collimation protocol improved image quality by 13 % in anteroposterior projection. No differences in image quality were found in lateral projection. By carrying out this research we have demonstrated that optimal collimation in thoracic spine imaging has a strong influence on patient exposure to radiation and has a positive impact on image quality.
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