Radiation Exposure and Image Quality in Chest CT Examinations
The lone conundrum that has stumped radiologists to physicists; from the individuals wielding a bachelor’s degree, to the geniuses that have made education their life occupation. How can radiation exposure be reduced to its absolute minimum without compromising image quality? Radiation is dangerous to the human body, and its variable effects are collective throughout our lives. This scientific concept forces an ethical responsibility and expectation from anyone that works in a field where radiation is being administered or used. That is why there is constant research that is being conducted to improve protocols when using radiation. Research that is testing safer methods of shielding …show more content…
The patients age ranged from 24 to 74 years old, and their chest diameter measured anteriorly to posteriorly was a range of 18.0 cm - 26.2 cm or 7.2 in – 10.48 in. All CT exams were conducted in the same fashion according to the hospitals protocol, and studies were only excluded if there were too few image pairs, or contralateral lung reconstructions were …show more content…
So useful that they changed their protocol for this specific study because of their findings. That kind of work motivates people to share their work within the scientific community regardless of any shortcomings because that is how we improve our craft holistically. Unfortunately, the unlimited amount of data that they did obtain in this study isn’t near enough to confirm or deny their claim that “Radiographic techniques for unenhanced chest CT examinations can be reduced from 280 to 120 mAs without compromising image quality.”. This claim absolute in regards to the eight patients that they scanned, but they should have changed their conclusion to say something more along the lines of: “Radiographic techniques for unenhanced CT examinations can be reduced from 280 to 120 mAs if the patient falls within a range of ages between 24 – 74 years old, and if their chest diameter stays between 18.0 cm - 26.2 cm, and if there is no added pathology, and if there is no uneven amount of adipose tissue in the area that is being scanned. Get the picture? Did any of these patients within the age range of 24 -74 have osteoporosis, or osteopetrosis? These pathologies, specifically osteoporosis, is very common in geriatric females, and tends to play a major role in how the x-ray photons are attenuated after they enter the body. Geriatric bone density in and of itself, tends to have a differential attenuation in
The lone conundrum that has stumped radiologists to physicists; from the individuals wielding a bachelor’s degree, to the geniuses that have made education their life occupation. How can radiation exposure be reduced to its absolute minimum without compromising image quality? Radiation is dangerous to the human body, and its variable effects are collective throughout our lives. This scientific concept forces an ethical responsibility and expectation from anyone that works in a field where radiation is being administered or used. That is why there is constant research that is being conducted to improve protocols when using radiation. Research that is testing safer methods of shielding …show more content…
The patients age ranged from 24 to 74 years old, and their chest diameter measured anteriorly to posteriorly was a range of 18.0 cm - 26.2 cm or 7.2 in – 10.48 in. All CT exams were conducted in the same fashion according to the hospitals protocol, and studies were only excluded if there were too few image pairs, or contralateral lung reconstructions were …show more content…
So useful that they changed their protocol for this specific study because of their findings. That kind of work motivates people to share their work within the scientific community regardless of any shortcomings because that is how we improve our craft holistically. Unfortunately, the unlimited amount of data that they did obtain in this study isn’t near enough to confirm or deny their claim that “Radiographic techniques for unenhanced chest CT examinations can be reduced from 280 to 120 mAs without compromising image quality.”. This claim absolute in regards to the eight patients that they scanned, but they should have changed their conclusion to say something more along the lines of: “Radiographic techniques for unenhanced CT examinations can be reduced from 280 to 120 mAs if the patient falls within a range of ages between 24 – 74 years old, and if their chest diameter stays between 18.0 cm - 26.2 cm, and if there is no added pathology, and if there is no uneven amount of adipose tissue in the area that is being scanned. Get the picture? Did any of these patients within the age range of 24 -74 have osteoporosis, or osteopetrosis? These pathologies, specifically osteoporosis, is very common in geriatric females, and tends to play a major role in how the x-ray photons are attenuated after they enter the body. Geriatric bone density in and of itself, tends to have a differential attenuation in