Research on reducing radiation exposure for clinical applications of X-ray attenuation

This study was aimed at identifing areas with low radiation exposure where workers could be taken in the examination room in case that they had to hold the patients by estimating the attenuation of primary radiation and measuring the spatial distribution of scattered radiation. The laboratory equipment included on the X-ray generator, a phantom (human phantom), and a dosimeter. The experiment measured the performance of the examination system (dose reproducibility), the dose of primary radiation (X-rays), and the dose of scattered radiation (secondary radiation). Both the primary and the scattered radiation were attenuated by a factor of tube in vacuum experimental tests of the inverse square law. In this study, the attenuation was 2 ∼ 2.246 for primary radiation and 2 ∼ 2.105 for secondary radiation. Natural attenuation occurred as the X-rays passed through air, and an attenuation equation was established in this study. The equation for primary radiation (1st dose) was y = A1* exp(−x/t1)+y0. The high-intensity contour of the direction for the cathode was wider than that of the direction for the anode, showing a wide range on the rear side of the cathode and on the rear side of the anode. We tried to find the positions where the workers’ radiation exposure could be reduced. When the medical radiation workers have to hold the patient for an abdominal examination, they should be placed towards the tube anode and on the left side of the patient. For a lumbar-spine lateral examination, they should be placed towards the tube anode and behind the patient, and for a femur AP (anterior-posterior) examination, they should be placed towards the tube anode and on the right side of the patient.