Concept of Dose Index Used in Medicine

Abstract

The characteristic of radiation exposure in medicine is to irradiate a human body directly. Therefore, the benefits of radiological practice in medicine have to largely exceed its risks. The risks need to be considered not only for the use of radiation but also the case of not having an examination. Moreover, those risks have to be reviewed in terms of both medical workers and patients. Also, radiation exposure in medicine is generally not uniform but ununiform for both sides. Although it is difficult to measure doses, in recent years, simulation software using computers has begun to be widely used. There are also unique radiation units in medicine based on quality control, such as CTDIvol, Ka,e, PKA and others. On the other hand, exposure in medicine can be also characterized by no upper limit having been specified, such as dose limits or dose constraints. Instead, some efforts have been made in the establishment of diagnostic reference levels to narrow a gap between facilities. We should apply and take “justification” and “optimization” for radiological protection in medicine, “dose limits” for medical workers and “diagnostic reference levels” for patients into account.