Estimation of Entrance Surface Dose during Diagnostic X-Ray Procedure at Minna General Hospital

Abstract

The risk of occurrence of cancer in developed and developing nations of the earth has become a major concern in the scientific and medical circle. Ionizing radiation which plays a significant role in x-ray diagnostic procedure has been identified as one of the factors responsible for the risk of cancer. This have therefore called for imperative measures to determine how much of radiation these medical imaging delivers to the patient. The aim of the study is to determine the entrance surface dose for patient undergoing diagnostic x-ray procedure at Minna general hospital. A total of 125 patient participated in the study with different examination such as the lumber (LAT & AP), chest (PA &LAT) and pelvis (AP). Patient parameter collected after all necessary approved consent include the age, sex, height, weight, and the exposure factors which are the kVp, mAs and the focus-to-skin distance. Using the geometric and technical parameters, the ESD were calculated. The obtained ESD ranged from 0.3-1.5mGy for chest (PA), 0.3-1.0mGy for chest (LAT), 1.33-5.67mGy for lumber (AP),1.5-5.4mGy for lumber (LAT), 1.6-5.21.5.2mGy for pelvis (AP). These values when compared with IAEA(1996) and NPRB(2002) values were found to be low which indicates an improvement in optimization and does not pose any health risk to the patient.