Assessment of dosimetric quantities for patients undergoing x-ray examinations in a larg public hospitals in Brazil - a preliminary study

Abstract

The introduction of routine patient dosimetry to Brazilian radiological institutions is very necessary in order to meet national and international standard requirements for radiation protection.This work presents a survey of the air kerma-area product (PkA), the entrance surface air kerma (ke) and the effective dose (E) in common radiographic examination during the routine of a large public hospital in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Results draw attention to the use offield sizes larger than the cassette dimension, the lack of both the colimation X-ray beam and the standardisation of the exposure parameters by radiology technicians.