Abstract
Purpose
To establish recommendation criteria for the determination of patient dose for a plain chest radiography examination (PCR) by surveying the examination protocols for the performance of PCR, determining patient doses, and analyzing the relationship between these protocols and patient dose.
Materials and Methods
We surveyed the examination protocols for the PCR of 95 radiography units in 82 institutes. We measured the patient dose as the surface entrance dose (SED) in these unites using an anthropomorphic phantom. We ultimately compared the results of the survey against several significant criteria.
Results
The protocol for performing a PCR in Korea was 111 ± 17 kVp and 7.0 ± 6.7 mAs. The mean and median SED were 0.30 ± 0.27 mGy and 0.22 mGy, respectively. The third quartile value was 0.34 mGy, while the variability between the types of institutes and the average values of SED were 0.27 ± 0.17 mGy, 0.28 ± 0.29 mGy, and 0.34 ± 0.31 mGy for primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals, respectively. The types of units include the average values of SED, which were 0.18 ± 0.11 mGy, 0.37 ± 0.28 mGy, and 0.32 ± 0.31 mGy for film/screen, CT, and digital radiography systems, respectively.
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