The objectives of this study are to assess pediatric radiation exposure in certain barium studies and to quantify the organ and effective doses and radiation risk resultant from patients' irradiation. A total of 69 pediatric barium studies for upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. Patients' radiation dose was quantified in terms of Entrance surface air kerma (ESAKs) using exposure parameters and DosCal software. Organ and effective doses (E) were extrapolated using national Radiological Protection Board software (NRPB-R279). The mean ± (SD) and the range of patient doses per procedure were 3.7 ± 0.4 (1.0-13.0)mGy, 7.4 ± 1.7(5.5-8.0)mGy and 1.4 ± 0.9 (0.5-3.6)mGy for barium meal, swallow and enema, respectively. The mean effective doses were 0.3 ± 0.03 (0.08-1.1)mSv, 0.2 ± 1.6 (0.44-0.7)mSv and 0.3 ± 0.9 (0.1-0.8)mSv at the same order. The radiation dose were higher compared to previous studies. Therefore, pediatrics are exposed to avoidable radiation exposure. Certain optimization measures are recommended along with establishing national diagnostic reference level (DRL) to reduce the radiation risk.
A pacemaker, which is used for heart resynchronization with electrical impulses, is used to manage many clinical conditions. Recently, the frequency of pacemaker implantation procedures has increased to more than 50% worldwide. During this procedure, patients can be exposed to excessive radiation exposure. Wide range of doses has been reported in previous studies, suggesting that optimization of this procedure has not been fulfilled yet. The current study evaluated patient radiation exposure during cardiac pacemaker procedures and quantified the patient effective dose. A total of 145 procedures were performed for five pacemaker procedures (VVI, VVIR, VVD, VVDR, and DDDR) at two hospitals. Patient doses were measured using the kerma-area product meter. Effective doses were estimated using software based on Monte Carlo simulation from the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB, now The Health Protection Agency). The effective dose values were used to estimate cancer risk from the pacemaker procedure. Patient demographic data and exposure parameters for fluoroscopy and radiography were quantified. The mean patient doses ± SD per procedure (Gycm2) for VVI, VVIR, VVD, VVDR, and DDDR were 1.52 ± 0.13 (1.43-1.61), 3.28 ± 2.34 (0.29-8.73), 3.04 ± 1.67 (1.57-4.86), 6.04 ± 2.326 3.29-8.58), and 8.8 ± 3.6 (4.5-26.20), respectively. The overall patient effective dose was 1.1mSv per procedure. It is obvious that the DDDR procedure exposed patients to the highest radiation dose. Patient dose variation can be attributed to procedure type, exposure parameter settings, and fluoroscopy time. The results of this study showed that patient doses during different pacemaker procedures are lower compared to previous reported values. Patient risk from pacemaker procedure is low, compared to other cardiac interventional procedures. Patients' exposures were mainly influenced by the type of procedures and the clinical indication.
In comparison to adults and paediatric are more sensitive to ionizing radiation exposure. Computed tomography (CT) is now the dominant source of medical radiologic tests for patients, accounting for more than 70% of total doses to the general public. Paediatric CT brain scans (with and without contrast) are routinely performed for a variety of clinical reasons. As a result, this parameter must be calculated in order to determine relative radiation risk. The goal of this study is to assess the radiation risk to children during CT brain diagnostic procedures. Three hundred fifty three child patients' radiation risk doses were assessed over the course of a year. The mean and ranged of the children's radiation doses were 40.6 ± 8.8 (27.8-45.8) CTDIvol (mGy) and 850 ± 230 (568.1-1126.4) DLP (mGy.cm) for the brain with contrast medium. For CT brain without contrast, the patients' doses were 40.9 ± 9.4 (14.27-64.07) CTDIvol (mGy), and 866.1 ± 289.3 (203.6-2484.9) DLP (mGy.cm). The characteristics related to the radiation dose were retrieved from the scan protocol generated by the CT system by the participating physicians after each procedure. Furthermore, optimizing the CT acquisition parameter is critical for increasing the benefit while lowering the procedure's radiogenic risk. The patients' radiation dose is comparable with the most previously published studies and international diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). Radiation dose optimization is recommended due to high sensitivity of the paediatric patients to ionizing radiation.
Computed tomography is widely used for planar imaging. Previous studies showed that CR systems involve higher patient radiation doses compared to digital systems. Therefore, assessing the patient's dose and CR system performance is necessary to ensure that patients received minimal dose with the highest possible image quality. The study was performed at three medical diagnostic centers in Sudan: Medical Corps Hospital (MCH), Advance Diagnostic Center (ADC), and Advance Medical Center (AMC). The following tools were used in this study: Tape measure, Adhesive tape, 1.5 mm copper filtration (>10 × 10 cm), TO 20 threshold contrast test object, Resolution test object (e.g., Huttner 18), MI geometry test object or lead ruler, Contact mish, Piranha (semiconductor detector), Small lead or copper block (∼5 × 5 cm), and Steel ruler, to do a different type of tests (Dark Noise, Erasure cycle efficiency, Sensitivity Index calibration, Sensitivity Index consistency, Uniformity, Scaling errors, Blurring, Limiting spatial Resolution, Threshold, and Laser beam Function. Entrance surface air kerma (ESAK (mGy) was calculated from patient exposure parameters using DosCal software for three imaging modalities. A total of 199 patients were examined (112 chest X rays, 77 lumbar spine). The mean and standard deviation (sd) for patients ESAK (mGy) were 2.56 ± 0.1 mGy and 1.6 mGy for the Anteroposterior (AP) and lateral projections for the lumbar spine, respectively. The mean and sd for the patient's chest doses were 0.1 ± 0.01 for the chest X-ray procedures. The three medical diagnostic centers' CR system performance was evaluated and found that all of the three centers have good CR system functions. All the centers satisfy all the criteria of acceptable visual tests. CR's image quality and sensitivity were evaluated, and the CR image is good because it has good contrast and resolution. All the CR system available in the medical centers and upgraded from old X-ray systems to new systems, has been found to work well. The patient's doses were comparable for the chest X-ray procedures, while patients' doses from the lumbar spine showed variation up to 2 folds due to the variation in patients' weight and X-ray machine setting. Patients dose optimization is recommended to ensure the patients received a minimal dose while obtaining the diagnostic findings.