OBJECTIVE To assess whether physician training helps decrease the amount of radiation delivered to patients undergoing coronary angioplasty with stent placement. BACKGROUND Coronary angioplasty exposes patients to high doses of ionizing radiation, possibly related to equipment misuse or inappropriate training. METHODS Reference point air kerma (K(a,r)) and kerma area product (P(KA)) were pr...

The standard dose algorithm provided by Panasonic to be used with the four element UD-802 TLD badge is widely employed in Personnel Dosimetry Services all around the world. The algorithm was developed to satisfy the obsolete standard ANSI 13.11-1983 that was reviewed in 1993 (HPS N13.11-1993) and revised again in 2001 (HPS N13.11-2001) including differences in the NIST x-ray techniques used as ...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to perform a randomized noninferiority trial of radiation exposure during cardiac catheterization comparing femoral access (FA) with left radial access (LRA) and right radial access (RRA). BACKGROUND Increased radiation exposure with radial approach compared with femoral approach remains a controversial issue. METHODS This study randomized 1,493 patients undergo...

PURPOSE Recently a number of hypothetical sources have been proposed and evaluated for use in brachytherapy. In the present study, a hypothetical (101)Rh source with mean photon energy of 121.5 keV and half-life of 3.3 years, has been evaluated as an alternative to the existing high-dose-rate (HDR) sources. Dosimetric characteristics of this source model have been determined following the recom...

A new calibration protocol, developed by the AAPM Task Group 51 (TG-51) to replace the TG-21 protocol, is based on an absorbed-dose to water standard and calibration factor (N(D,w)), while the TG-21 protocol is based on an exposure (or air-kerma) standard and calibration factor (N(x)). Because of differences between these standards and the two protocols, the results of clinical reference dosime...

It was the aim of the study presented here to estimate for the first time patient dose levels in conventional diagnostic radiology in Montenegro. Measurements of patient dose in terms of entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) and kerma-area product (KAP) were performed on at least 10 patients for each examination type, in each of five randomly selected health institutions in Montenegro, so that a to...