title: Assessment of dosimetric quantities for patients undergoing X-ray examinations in a large public hospital in Brazil--a preliminary study.
abstract: The introduction of routine patient dosimetry to Brazilian radiological institutions is very necessary in order to meet national and international standard requirements for radiation protection. This work presents a survey of the air kerma-area product (P(KA)), the entrance surface air kerma (K(e)) and the effective dose (E) in common radiographic examinations during the routine of a large public hospital in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Results draw attention to the use of field sizes larger than the cassette dimension, the lack of both the collimation X-ray beam and the standardisation of the exposure parameters by radiology technicians.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear, Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Caixa Postal 941, CEP 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. masl@cdtn.br
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio de Sousa
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lacerda
authors.forename: Teógenes Augusto
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Helen Jamil
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Khoury
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001822:Body Burden; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D014965:X-Rays; D055815:Young Adult