Dose reduction using Saba thyroid shield during diagnostic X-ray energy range: a phantom study

Abstract

The Saba thyroid shield is a new X-ray dose reduction tool for radiosensitive organs that can reduce the X-ray dose without degrading the image quality. This study investigated its effectiveness in reducing the X-ray dose on the thyroid surface during diagnostic X-ray. This study was conducted in the lab of the Medical Physics Department at Umm-Alqura University. The experiments were performed in the year 2022. A mixed fission product phantom and a solid-state detector were used to measure the radiation dose on the thyroid surface during diagnostic X-ray using a tube voltage within 40–120 kVp. The effectiveness of the Saba thyroid shield was examined in two settings: in-field and out-of-field. Measurements were conducted for these two settings without and with the Saba thyroid shield, and the attenuation percentages were computed. Analysis of covariance was used to test the tool’s effectiveness in X-ray dose reduction. The average in- and out-of-field dose attenuation percentages using the Saba thyroid shield were 80.12 ± 0.12% and 81.13 ± 0.18%, respectively. A significant difference was shown between the measurements done without and with the Saba thyroid shield (p = 0.000) for both the in-field and out-of-field doses. The in-field and out-of-field dose reduction levels using the shield were approximately the same. This study demonstrated that the newly developed Saba thyroid shield made of copper and bismuth effectively reduces both the in-field and out-of-field radiation doses.