7l Radiation dose to adult patients in LS spine X-ray examinations of health centres in one central hospital district in Finland

摘要

The present study on patient doses and examination techniques has shown that the doses exceed the national dose reference levels except in two health centres. The examination techniques don't meet the European quality criteria of focal spot size, total filtration, grid performance and nominal speed class of the image receptors in some health centres. The dose variations between the various health centres were found to be high, as were the dose ranges in a single health centre. The patient dose exceeded the national reference levels in only a few health centres, whereas in many health centres the examination techniques did not meet the European recommendations with regard to focal spot size and the speed index of the image receptor. Similar results with respect to the sensitivity of image receptors were reported earlier in health centres. The total dose measured in this study could be decreased by about 20% if more sensitive screens were used.