Determination of entrance skin dose from diagnostic X-ray of human chest at Federal Medical Centre Keffi, Nigeria

Abstract

patient during x-ray examination in Federal Medical Centre, Keffi in Nasarawa state, Nigeria. Entrance skin doses (ESDs) for a common type of x-ray procedures, namely chest AP/PA (anterior/posterior) were measured. A total of 200 data were collected from patients who were exposed to diagnostic X-ray during their routine chest X-ray examinations. The age of the patients ranged from 15 to 68 years old while the weight and height of these patients ranged from 37.5kg to 98.5kg and 130.0cm to 175cm,  respectively. The patent’s skin dose were determined using Edmond’s formula, which is based on the X-ray tube and the radiographic exposure parameters of kVp, mAS, SSD and the total filtration of the beams. The calculated mean skin dose ranges from 0.013± 0.01mGy to 0.851±0.023mGy. In general, the ESDs measured for this type of x-ray procedures were found to be lower than or in agreement with the guidance level set by the Nigerian Basic Ionizing Radiation Regulation (NBIRR, 2003) standard and other international bodies and does not pose any significant health risk to the patience or the workers.

Keywords: Entrance skin Dose, X-ray, Anterior-Posterior, Exposure, and Radiation.