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WE‐B‐I‐611‐01: Evaluation and Consulting On Patient Dose In Diagnostic Imaging
Author(s) -
Gray J,
Kofler J
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.1998488
Subject(s) - medical physicist , medicine , medical physics , medical radiation , medical imaging , effective dose (radiation) , dosimetry , radiation dose , nuclear medicine , radiology
One of the responsibilities of a clinical medical physicist in diagnostic imaging is to provide both dose and risk information about x‐ray examinations. This is required for several reasons including advising medical staff of the doses and risks associated with specific examinations, consulting with institutional review boards (IRBs) relative to research uses of radiation, and determining specific organ doses such as uterine or fetal doses to assist in medical decision making. In order to provide dose and risk estimates four types of information are necessary including: 1) patient entrance skin exposures; 2) specific organ doses based on these exposures; 3) effective dose which is calculated based upon specific organ doses; and 4) estimation of risk based upon the effective dose. Unfortunately, there is no concise source of the information regarding doses and risk so it is necessary to have access to and knowledge of the sources that are available. This refresher course will provide an overview of resources and methods for determining patient risk from ionizing radiation in medical imaging. Several examples will be provided showing how doses and risks can be reduced easily and inexpensively for both clinical and research applications.