Patient dosimetry in diagnostic radiology

Abstract

The objective of this work is to assess patient organ doses, effective doses and entrance surface doses in conventional diagnostic radiology procedures for standard adult patient. The survey consists of measurements of doses delivered to 239 patients in nine types of X-ray examinations. Three types of data were collected: X-ray machine data, patient data, and output measurements. Entrance surface dose was assessed based on the survey data and subsequently, using conversion coefficients, the organ doses and effective doses were calculated. Values of the entrance surface dose and the effective dose were estimated to be 0.4 to 5.8 mGy and 0.03 to 3.00 mSv for different examinations. Derived doses were compared with recommended general diagnostic reference levels. The impact of examination parameters on dose values was discussed. Except for posterior-anterior chest examination, all estimated doses are lower than stated reference levels. Survey data are aimed at helping development of national quality control and radiation protection programmed for medical exposures.