Abstract
Patient dosimetry studies in diagnostic radiology in Nigeria have been on measurement of entrance skin dose and effective dose. Another important and easy to measure radiation dose descriptor that could be used to assess patient dose in radiological procedures is dose area product (DAP). Knowledge of DAP with location and projection of X‐ray beam allows direct calculation of organ dose and effective dose. In this study, DAP for commonly performed radiological examinations (abdomen, chest, lumbo sacral joint, pelvis, paranasal sinus, and skull) in four diagnostic centers in Nigeria were determined. These centers comprise of three classes of health care center namely tertiary, private, and specialist hospitals. Mathematical method was used to determine DAP received by 336 patients undergoing radiological examinations at the selected diagnostic centers. The DAP received by patient from each radiological examination varies from center to center. The range factor (RF) of DAP for individual patients ranged from 1.55–4.56, while RF of DAP among the selected centers was 2.27–55.84. The highest RF of DAP (55.84) was obtained from X‐ray examination of the chest. This variation was due to the application of anti‐scatter grid, and high kVp and high mAs values for chest examination by only one of the centers. The very wide variation in DAP found among diagnostic centers in this survey showed that there is need to harmonize radiological techniques of common X‐ray examination among different diagnostic centers. This would ensure optimal protection of patient against excessive radiation dose.PACS numbers: 87.53.Bn; 87.59.B
Highlights
Dose area product (DAP) is a product of surface area of patient that is exposed to radiation at the skin entrance multiplied by the radiation dose at this surface
While the range of kVp selected at University College Hospital (UCH), Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), TwoTees diagnostic centre (TDC), and National Hospital Abuja (NHA) for all examinations was [55–93, 100–110, 75–90], and [70–81], respectively, the range of mAs values was 9 –300, 80–200, 60–120, and [40–81], respectively
The only exceptions were the DAP values received from chest X-ray examination, which was higher at OAUTHC, TDC, and NHA
Summary
Dose area product (DAP) is a product of surface area of patient that is exposed to radiation at the skin entrance multiplied by the radiation dose at this surface. The entrance surface dose is considered a useful first approach in measurement of radiation exposure to patients.(2) This is because the amount of radiation dose delivered to the skin of the patient determines both the stochastic and deterministic risks. The measurement of entrance surface dose with thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) has been shown to be laborious, capital intensive, and potentially intrusive,(3) especially when large numbers of patients are involved in the survey. This made dosimeter-based entrance surface dose measurement in routine X-ray examination quite expensive for centers with limited resources. Among several indirect methods employed for practical estimation of effective dose in conventional radiology and fluoroscopy is dose area product.(5,6)
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