Comparison of skin absorbed radiation dose in thyroid gland area during panoramic radiography and spiral tomography techniques

Thyroid gland is one of the critical organs during radiation in the head and neck region. The aim of this study was to compare absorbed radiation dose by skin in the thyroid area during spiral tomography and panoramic radiography by means of thermoluminance dosimetry (TLD). Thirty-six LiF (TLD-100) thermoluminescence dosimetry chips were utilized in this experimental in vitro study. One TLD chip was placed on the tube side and another was placed on the opposite side of the thyroid gland of a sliced anatomic Alderson head and neck phantom during panoramic radiography and spiral tomography. The dosimeters were read by a SOLARO 2A TLD reader twice followed by calculation of the absorbed dose. The results were analyzed by Wilcoxon’s test at a confidence interval of 95%. The mean dose for screen-film panoramic radiographs was 34 µGy in the left thyroid and 39 on the right side. With spiral tomography the thyroid gland received a mean dose of 30‒71 µGy. There were no statistically significant differences in the mean thyroid doses between anterior and posterior spiral tomography and panoramic examination (p value > 0.05). Skin absorbed radiation dose of a tomographic examination, which includes four sections with a specific thickness, are almost comparable to that with a panoramic radiographic technique.