Study of the Dose Curve to Determine the Dose Received by a Patient on the Diagnostic Radiology

Abstract

A study of the dose curve to determine the dose received by a patient on the diagnostic radiology was carried out. One of the efforts to apply radiation dose optimization in diagnostic radiology is using the Diagnostic Reference Level (DRL), the dose value used as a reference for each radiological examination. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a method for determining the dose curve as a function of two variables: x-ray tube current and x-ray beam energy. Furthermore, the dose curve that has been developed can be used to estimate the value of the patient dose for each exposure factor arranged. In this study, the dose curve is determined using the polynomial model compiled using MATLAB software, and then validation is carried out using calibrated dosimeter. It shows that at a focus-to-detector distance (FDD) of 100 cm, the deviation factor is 4.89%. It meets the acceptance criteria determined, which is less than 5%. Furthermore, another validation result at FFD 50 cm shows that the average deviation value is 0.43%. In addition, the estimated dose still met the DRL criteria, where the estimated dose obtained for thorax AP and abdominal examinations are 0.26 mGy and 1.5 mGy, respectively. These values were still below the Indonesian Diagnostic Reference Level (IDRL) criteria determined by the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency of Indonesia (BAPETEN), which are 0.4 mGy and 10 mGy for thorax AP and abdominal, respectively.