Development of an open project rectangular collimator for use with intraoral dental X-ray unit

Abstract

In this work, an open beam-limiting device, consisting of a rectangular collimator to be coupled to an intraoral dental X-ray device, was made using recycled lead sheets as a radiation-absorbing element. The collimator was designed for 3D printing, and using Spektr 3.0 software, the number of lead sheets needed to absorb excess radiation was calculated. The rectangular collimator reduced the radiation dose to patients by 65% when using four layers of recycled lead sheets (saturating with a 70% reduction in radiation dose at the limit of eight or more sheets of lead). The rectangular collimator does not negatively impact the quality of the radiological image, is available as an open design for 3D printing, and can be built with materials that are easily accessible to the dentist, facilitating its use in clinical practice and reducing the patient's exposure to ionizing radiation.

Keywords: 3D printing; Radiation dose; Radiation protection; Radiology.