Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2012-03-03"
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- Patient´s knowledge about radiation and radiological protectionPublication . Pinheiro, João; Ribeiro, Luís; Rodrigues, Sónia Isabel do Espírito Santo; Abrantes, António; Silva, Carlos; Almeida, RuiPurpose: To obtain and analyse patient´s knowledge and perceptions regarding radiation exposure, from both natural and man-made radiation of medical procedures and interventions. Verify if patients worry about their exposure when undergoing medical exams, are aware of associated risks and means of radiological protection and if their knowledge on medical radiation exposure affects their own decisions. Methods and Materials: On a medical environment a self-applied questionnaire was used as instrument and assigned to patients who would undergo medical imaging exams involving ionising radiation. A total of 300 valid questionnaires were interpreted and statistically analysed through descriptive statistics and Phi & Cramer´s V correlation tests. Results: 44.3% of patients believe most of their exposure derives from electronic appliances and 25% from medical imaging exams, while patient´s with higher education levels tend to consider is comes from the environment. The great majority of patients (95%) consider that only certified personnel should operate medical imaging equipment, but 74% never ask for their qualifications. 66.3% of patients claim that Technologists have more education on radiological protection and about 60% of patients rarely or never worry about radiation exposure when undergoing medical imaging exams. Conclusion: Patients overestimate the risks of industrial radiation exposure while they underestimate the associated risks of medical radiation exposure and the Technologist´s ability to reduce the inherent radiation exposure of medical imaging exams. Patient´s knowledge on radiation and radiological protection is based more on perceptions and beliefs, rather than factual knowledge.
- Study of the scattered x-ray distributions around a mammography unitPublication . Lima, Patricia; Sousa, Patrick Emmanuel; Rodrigues, Sónia Isabel do Espírito Santo; Abrantes, António; Silva, Carlos; Ribeiro, Luís; De almeida, Rui; Azevedo, KevinPurpose: To measure the distribution of scattered radiation in a mammography unit for shielding design purposes. Methods and Materials: Measurements were carried out with an anthropomorphic phantom used to simulate a body from one adult patient. The dose rate for scattered radiation was recorded by placing a solid state sensor (Unfors Xi Survey Detector) every 10 degrees at 1 m distance from the FOV centre, in the axial and coronal planes of the breast. The scattered radiation distribution was treated as isodose curves, specifying the amount of radiation that will be delivered to a specific point in the room around the equipment (GE Senographe DMR). More than 50 exposures were made with a tube voltage of 30 kVp, anode-filter combination Mo/Mo and large focus. Results: In the axial plane, results show that the scattered radiation is absorbed up to 73% on the back of the anthropomorphic phantom, at the potter bucky plane height. In the coronal plane, the scattered radiation significantly increases with the angle due to backscattering effect. Assuming the direction of the incidence beam is 0 degree, results show that the scattered radiation is 86% higher at 160 degrees than at 90 degrees. Conclusion: The type of mammographic view and the patient´s body strongly influence the distribution of scattered x-ray radiation. These results can be used to improve the shielding design of a mammographic unit with less resources and less spending on shielding barriers.