Measurement Tool for Exposure Techniques in X-ray Ionizing Radiation Equipment

Abstract

This article shows the development of an instrument for measuring the exposure parameters used to take radiographic studies in living beings; such as kilovoltage, current and time, since radiation protection is a fundamental pillar in the care of patients and operators of ionizing radiation equipment, it is necessary to calibrate these parameters in equipment that produce X-rays. For the manufacture of the measuring instrument is used an ESP32 microcontroller which is programmed using the Python syntax using the project micropython, in addition to current, distance and light sensors. The results of these measurements will be displayed through output devices such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, liquid crystal (LCD) displays, and a Web server, in order to perform the measurements safely from the control room and thus avoid exposure to radiation as much as possible. The kVp measurement performed in this article is for equipment operating at 60 [Hz], for high frequency equipment a new parameterization must be performed in order to obtain results as close to reality as possible. By using the web server for the transmission of measurement data, the radiation exposure was reduced and the calibration times of the equipment were improved. This article presents the measurements, and also the calculation of the error of each of the different exposure parameters of conventional X-ray equipments, such as kVp, mA, mAs and time. The errors obtained in the measurements were made assuming that the X-ray equipment used has a 0 error, i.e. assuming that the X-ray equipment is calibrated and that it is a standard equipment.