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UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS Guest
2024-11-23 18:18 |
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2009 Meeting
Section: Biophysics; Medical Physics
Title:
Assessment of entrance surface doses for newborn babies within an Intensive Care Unit
Authors:
Ioana Sorop, Daniela Mossang, Elena Dadulescu
Affiliation:
Laboratory for the Hygiene of Ionizing Radiations, Public Health Authority of Dolj County, Romania
E-mail
liricv@yahoo.com
Keywords:
radiological examinations, entrance surface doses, reference levels, risk
Abstract:
Newborn babies with health conditions or those who have been born premature often require treatment in intensive care units (ICU), undergoing therefore frequent radiological examinations. The exposure to ionizing radiations in childhood increases two to three times the risk of cancer in comparison to the adults. This is why it is highly important to know the entrance surface doses (ESD) for each radiological equipment, for each type of investigation and to compare them with the reference levels.The study, running between 2005 and 2007 in the ICU of the County Emergency Clinical Hospital Craiova, describes the distribution, frequency of radiological examinations and estimates the ESD for the most important radiological procedures. The measurement of ESD has been carried out by using a multifunctional device for testing the quality of the radiological systems (RMI-242), with a flat ionizing room, with a volume of 51 cc and a standard phantom. Student test “t” was used for statistical analysis.The chest radiological examinations are the most numerous, over half of them bringing no real diagnosis benefit. The number of procedures per child varies between one and nine, being under the average (36) mentioned in other studies. The average of ESD for the chest examinations is statistically significant higher than the reference levels (p < 0.001). Irrespective of a child’s weight, the kilo-voltage is under the recommended values for all radiological procedures.For this group of children, worrying is not the ESD per exposure, but the repeated examinations during the child’s hospitalization period; they lead to cumulative doses, to which it is likely that many other are added during the childhood. The incorrect use of the low kilo–voltage technique as a consequence of the small volume and weight of these babies causes the increase of the dose.
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