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
. 2023 Aug:209:110965.
doi: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2023.110965. Epub 2023 Apr 11.

Effectiveness of protective thyroid shield in chest X-ray imaging

Shyma M Alkhateeb  1 , Abdulkreem Bamusa  1 , Nawaf Almutairi  1 , Badr Barayan  1 , Hasan Alamodi  1 , Fouad Alnadawi  2 , Majdi Alnowaimi  2
Affiliations

Effectiveness of protective thyroid shield in chest X-ray imaging

Shyma M Alkhateeb et al. Radiat Phys Chem Oxf Engl 1993. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Chest X-ray imaging is the most common X-ray imaging method for diagnosing coronavirus disease. The thyroid gland is one of the most radiation-sensitive organs of the body, particularly in infants and children. Therefore, it must be protected during chest X-ray imaging. Yet, because it has benefits and drawbacks, using a thyroid shield as protection during chest X-ray imaging is still up for debate.Therefore, this study aims to clarify the need for using a protective thyroid shield during chest X-ray imaging. This study was performed using different dosimeters (silica beads as a thermoluminescent dosimeter and an optically stimulated luminance dosimeter) embedded in an adult male ATOM dosimetric phantom. The phantom was irradiated using a portable X-ray machine with and without thyroid shielding. The dosimeter readings indicated that a thyroid shield reduced the radiation dose to the thyroid gland by 69% ± 18% without degrading the obtained radiograph. The use of a protective thyroid shield during chest X-ray imaging is recommended because its benefits outweigh the risks.

Keywords: Chest X-ray; Dosimetry; Optically stimulated luminance; Radiation protection; Shielding; Thyroid region.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
ATOM dosimetric phantom used in procedure.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Simulation of phantom with TLD positions inside it. Green numbers indicate TLDs with shield. Pink numbers indicate TLDs without shield.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Simulation of phantom with OSL positions inside it. Green numbers indicate TLDs without shield. Pink numbers indicate TLDs with shield.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Han G.S., et al. Dentomaxillofacial Radiology. The British Institute of Radiology. Vol. 42. St John Street; London EC1M 4DG, UK: 2013. Shielding effect of thyroid collar for digital panoramic radiography; pp. 48–50. (9), p. 20130265. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Le Heron J., et al. Radiation protection of medical staff. Eur. J. Radiol. 2010;76(1):20–23. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2010.06.034. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hiles P., et al. European consensus on patient contact shielding. Insights Into Imag. 2021;12(1):194. doi: 10.1186/s13244-021-01085-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hohl C., et al. Radiation dose reduction to breast and thyroid during MDCT: effectiveness of an in-plane bismuth shield. Acta. Radiologica. Taylor & Francis. 2006;47(6):562–567. - PubMed
    1. Hyun S.-J., et al. Efficiency of lead aprons in blocking radiation− how protective are they? Heliyon. Elsevier. 2016;2(5) - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources