Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Feb;33(1):64-70.
doi: 10.1007/s10278-019-00199-y.

Estimates of Patient Radiation Doses in Digital Radiography Using DICOM Information at a Large Teaching Hospital in Oman

Ibrahim I Suliman  1   2   3
Affiliations

Estimates of Patient Radiation Doses in Digital Radiography Using DICOM Information at a Large Teaching Hospital in Oman

Ibrahim I Suliman. J Digit Imaging. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

In this study, we sought to estimate the patient radiation doses in the digital radiography X-ray examinations conducted in a large hospital. The patient exposure factors and kerma-area product (PKA) were retrospectively recorded via the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) header for 547 patients. The entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) was estimated from the measurements of the X-ray tube output and recorded exposure factors, as well as from the console that displayed PKA as an alternative method. Effective doses were estimated from ESAK and PKA values using the appropriate conversion coefficient. In the chest PA, chest LAT, cervical spine AP, cervical spine LAT, abdomen AP, pelvis AP, lumbar spine AP, and lumbar spine LAT, the median ESAK (mGy) was found to be 0.13, 0.27, 0.35, 0.52, 0.70, 1.06, 2.33, and 4.18 mGy, respectively. Median PKA values were 0.10, 0.26, 0.14, 0.17, 0.77, 0.68, 0.81, and 1.11 Gy cm2, respectively. The estimated effective dose from ESAK and PKA values yielded comparable results. The comparison revealed that the ESAK and PKA values fell far below the reported in the literature. The results showed that the information of the DICOM deader is valuable for dosimetry and optimization.

Keywords: Diagnostic reference levels; Digital radiography; Entrance surface air kerma; Kerma-area product; Patient doses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of effective doses, the EESAK obtained from the ESAK values, the EPKA obtained from the PKA values, and the effective doses reported in UK 2010
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. 2008 UNSCEAR report to the general assembly with scientific annex. 2010
    1. Martin CJ: The importance of radiation quality for optimization in radiology. Biomed Imaging Intervention J 3(2), 2007 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Elshiekh E, Suliman II, Habbani F. A comparative study of adult patient doses in film screen and computed radiography in some Sudanese hospitals. Radiat Prot Dosim. 2015;165(1–4):402–405. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncv186. - DOI - PubMed
    1. European Commission (EC) Diagnostic Reference Levels in Thirty-six European Countries Part 2/2. Radiation protection No. 180. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2014.
    1. Vañó E, Miller DL, Martin CJ, Rehani MM, Kang K, Rosenstein M, Ortiz-Lopez P, Mattsson S, Padovani R, Rogers A. ICRP Publication 135: Diagnostic Reference Levels in Medical Imaging. Ann ICRP. 2017;46(1):1–144. doi: 10.1177/0146645317717209. - DOI - PubMed