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Double exposure x rays9/20/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() However, local rules are enforced to ensure that dosimetry badges and protective clothing such as lead aprons are worn, in order to monitor and reduce staff radiation dose. The doses that radiologists and radiographers are exposed to are generally small. Staff are also at potential risk from radiation exposure. LOCAL RULES - Measures to ensure wider regulations are enforced, for example that X-ray machines are correctly installed and used, and that referrals are justified. OPTIMIZATION - Measures should be in place to reduce dose to patients and staff. JUSTIFICATION - Potential benefit of radiation exposure should outweigh risk. Several principles should be adhered to in order to reduce risk to patients. Children are more radiosensitive than adults and irradiation of a fetus should be avoided wherever possible. Radiation exposure to reproductive organs carries further potential risk to future generations. These are generally tissues with rapidly dividing cells, for example, radiation dose to the stomach is over 20 times more likely to result in a fatal cancer than the same dose to bone. ![]() Some body parts are more susceptible to the random damaging effects of radiation. This means that a chest X-ray amounts to 3 days of background radiation and a CT abdomen is equivalent to 4.5 years! Diagnostic investigations typically involve doses between 0.02mSV (chest X-ray) to 10mSv (CT abdomen). The average radiation dose per person in the UK is 2.6mSv per year, 2.2mSv of which is background and 0.4mSv relates to medical exposure. Some biological effects such as skin damage are dose dependent, whereas others, such as development of cancer, are random.ĭose dependent biological effects become measurable above 50mSv (millisieverts) and a whole body dose of greater than 10Sv (sieverts) is universally lethal. For this reason all medical exposure to radiation should be justified in terms of risk to benefit ratio. Local rules of the X-ray department must be adhered to, as ignoring them may result in breaking the law.Īll X-rays may cause alteration of cellular division and other intracellular processes and are therefore potentially harmful to the human body. Referrers for radiological investigations are required to provide sound clinical reasons to justify exposing patients to radiation. Requests for radiological examinations should be clinically justified.X-rays are potentially harmful to both patients and hospital staff. ![]()
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