Radiation Dosimetry for Extremity Radiographs

Abstract

The energy imparted, epsilon, to a patient undergoing an extremity x-ray examination may be obtained from the dose-area product incident on the patient. Values of energy imparted can be subsequently converted into the corresponding effective dose, E, using an extremity specific E/epsilon ratio. In this study, an E/epsilon ratio of 3 mSv/J was used to convert values of energy imparted into the corresponding upper limit of adult effective doses for all types of extremity examinations. A modification factor, based on the patient mass, was employed to determine the corresponding extremity effective doses to pediatric patients undergoing extremity examinations. Representative clinical technique factors for six common extremity examinations (hand, forearm, elbow, ankle, tibia/fibula, knee) were used to determine the dose-area product and the corresponding values of energy imparted. For adult extremity x-ray examinations, values of energy imparted ranged from 55 microJ to 920 microJ, with the energy imparted to 1-y-old patients being a factor of about 20 lower. Upper limits of effective doses for adult extremity x-ray examinations ranged from 0.17 to 2.7 microSv, whereas the corresponding doses to 1-y-old patients were about a factor of three lower.

Optimization of image quality and patient dose in radiographs of paediatric extremities using direct digital radiography

“…Radiation dosimetry of the paediatric extremity has also been previously attempted by assessing the energy imparted to a homogeneous slab of water, and the value scaled for the difference in mass between an adult and child. 25 The upper limit on the ED for an ankle exposure of a 1-year-old patient was calculated to be 0.31 mSv, and this is in agreement with the ED measured from this study when accounting for change in exposure factors to 58 and 6 mAs.…”

Knee Extension and Stiffness in Osteoarthritic and Normal Knees: A Videofluoroscopic Analysis of the Effect of a Single Session of Manual Therapy

“…6 The total amount of radiation exposure from 36 fluoroscopic images was estimated by the facility radiation physicist to be equal to that of a standard set of knee radiographic images. 25,28 The loading conditions applied forces equal to 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60%…”

Performance of Boron-Carbide as Radiation Shielding

“…Other preparates, such as iodine 123, indium 111 and gallium 67 are also used. * corresponding author; e-mail: umitkara@sdu.edu.tr Fluorine 18 is a radioisotope used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging [2,3]. It is the reason of high importance of radioactivity sources for nuclear medicine.…”

“…We can distinguish two basic categories of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing ones. Ionizing radiation carried by quanta of large energy can change the structure of irradiated matter, even hurting people causing chemical, biological changes in human body [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Non-ionizing radiation does not cause microscopic damage, but some types can cause chemical changes or get human body warm.…”