title: Effective dose calculations in conventional diagnostic X-ray examinations for adult and paediatric patients in a large Italian hospital.
abstract: The effective dose E is an efficient and powerful parameter to study the radioprotection of the patient. In our hospital, eight radiological departments and more than 100 radiological X-ray tubes are present. The effective doses were calculated for adults and paediatric patients in 10 standard projections. To calculate E, first the entrance skin dose (ESD) was evaluated by a mathematical model that was validated by >400 direct measurements taken with an ionisation chamber on four different phantoms: the overall accuracy of the model was better than 12%. Second, to relate ESD to E, conversion coefficients calculated by Monte Carlo techniques were used. The E-values obtained were of the same order as those presented in the literature. Finally, we analysed how the study of E distributions among the various radiological departments can help to optimise the procedures, by identifying the most critical examinations or sub-optimal clinical protocols.
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Department, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. gcompa@med.unibo.it
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Compagnone
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pagan
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bergamini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection; D011871:Radiology / Q000379:methods*; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D012867:Skin / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014965:X-Rays