Purpose
This was a experimental quantitative research with the following purposes:
Measure the equivalent radiationdose in the lens,
breast,
thyroid and gonads when performing head,
thorax,
abdomen and lower limb Computed Tomography (CT) examinations.
Compare the dose with and without use of radioprotection dedicated to the lens,
thyroid,
breast and gonads (pelvic region).
Evaluate the effect of using bismuth breast radiation protection in the image quality.
Methods and materials
MATERIALS
The materials used in order to conduct this research were:
1 plain ionization chamber PTW®
1 electometer PTW® Unidos E®
16optically stimulated luminescence(OSL) dosimeters
1 bismuth breast protection KIRAN®
(equivalent to 0.08mm of lead)
1 lens barium protection GRAYSHIELD®
(equivalent to0.075mm of lead)
1 thyroid lead protection GUIDANT®
(equivalent to 0.5mm of lead)
1 gonads lead apron protection GUIDANT®
(equivalent to0.25mm of lead)
1 anthropomorfic phantom ADAMROUILLY®
1 computed tomography (CT) equipment SIEMENS® SOMATOM® EMOTION®16
1 image control phantom GAMMEX 464®
METHODS
The methods...
Results
General considerations about the results
In order to compare the results measured by both the ionization chamber and the optically stimulated dosimeters (OSL),
a convertion from mGy to mSv had to be done,
through the quality factor of the x-ray beam (1 in this research).
About the quality control,
the phantom GAMMEX 464® was used.
This phantom is composed by 4 different modules that allow the evaluation of several aspects of image quality such as hounsfield units (HU) values,
low contrast resolution,
image uniformity and...
Conclusion
In routine head CT examinations,
to use the barium lens protector,
allowed a reduction in the radiation dose of only 3% at a depth of both 10mm and 0.07mm (Fig. 36&Fig. 37,
respectively).
In the same examination,
for a depth of 10mm the use of lead thyroid protection allowed a decrease in dose of 22% and the use of bismuth breast protection allowed a reduction in breast of 65%.
For a depth of 0.07mm the use of lead thyroid protection allowed a decrease in dose...
Personal information
R.
Pescada.
Graduated in Radiology by Health Shcool - University of Algarve(ESSUALG),
Faro,
Portugal.
P.
Sousa.
PhD,
Professor in Health Shcool - University of Algarve(ESSUALG),
Faro,
Portugal.
A.F.
Abrantes.
PhD,
Member of the Research Center of Sociologic Studies of Lisbon´s Nova University (Cesnova),
Director of the Radiology Department,
Professor and Member of the Center for Health Studies (CES) of Health Shcool - University of Algarve(ESSUALG),
Faro,
Portugal.
L.P.V.
Ribeiro.
PhD,
Member of the Research Center of Sports and Physical Activity (CIDAF) of Coimbra University,
Professor...
References
The Bibliographic references used during the development of this research were,
by alphabetic order:
Adam,
Rouilly.
(2010).
Products/ Clinical Skills/ X-Ray & Radiographic Positioning. Obtained in 29thNovember 2012,
from: http://www.adam-rouilly.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=2792&cid=410
American College of Radiology.
(2013).
Obtained in 22ndApril 2013,
from: http://www.acr.org/~/media/ACR/Documents/Accreditation/CT/PhantomTestingInstruction.pdf
Baert,
A.,
& Sartor,
K.
(2006).
Multidetector-Row CT of the thorax.Boston: Springer.
Bruening,
R.,
Kuettner,
A.,
& Flohr,
T.
(2006).
Protocols for Multislice CT (2nd ed.).
Heidelberg: Springer.
Coakley,
F.
V.,
Gould,
R.,
Yeh,
B.
M.,
& Arenson,
R.
L.
(March 2011).
CT Radiation...