Assessment of patient dose in routine digital radiography in Iran

The present study aimed to investigate patient dose in common X-ray examinations to estimate effective dose in the digital radiography in Iran.

Entrance surface dose (ESD) was measured based on applied exposure parameters for the common actual examination; and then effective dose (ED) was calculated by use of PCXMC software. The study was conducted on 15358 patients in 85 X-ray rooms; and the necessary data was collected for five age groups, 0-1 year, 1-5 years, 5-10 years, 10-15 years old and adults in each projection.

The ranges of ESD and ED in different examinations for all the age groups are 0.02-10.20 mGy and 2.42-378.96 µSv respectively.

The effective dose as criteria can be used to reduce patients' doses. The special considerations such as: adequate training of imaging staff; updating clinical audits; patient dose considerations; implementation of systematic and regular quality assurance and quality control programs in medical imaging departments should be taken into account to optimize radiological practices.