Estimation of Effective Dose in Conventional Radiotherapy

Abstract

Abstract Medical x-rays are the largest man-made source of public exposure to ionizing radiation. It is important to avoid conditions where the amount of radiation used is more than that needed for the procedure. The concern about cancer risks associated with medical radiation has increased. The Entrance Surface Dose (ESD) measurement was conducted. The ESDs were measured by UNFORS dosimeter for seven common types of x-ray procedures in four hospitals in Khartoum state, Sudan A total of 247 patients were examined in four hospitals, 226 patients adults 27.4% in Bahry teaching hospital, 24.8% in Alban gadeed teaching hospital, 25.7% in the nationa Ribat University hospital and 22.1% in Sharg Elnil model hospital. A total of 21 paediatrics patients 10.5% were examined in Bahry teaching hospital, 52.6% in Alban gadeed teaching hospital, 21.1% in Alribat National Hospital and 15.8% in Sharg Elnil model hospital. The findings support the importance of the on-going quality assurance program to ensure doses are kept to a level consistence with optimum imaging quality. The results of this dose survey provide valuable primary data for awareness from situation of patient dose in these hospitals in Khartoum. It is the first step in reduction of patient dose program. The wide variations of patient dose for the same types of x-ray examination carried out even by different radiographers suggested that significant reductions in the dose from these spread is mainly due to the choice of exposure factors, technique, focus-to-film distance, filter, film-screen speed and the output of the x-ray units and processor quality were used.