IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

Pediatric Radiology

Radiation Sources in medicine diagnostic Radiology

Day 7 – Lecture 2(3)

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Objective

• To become familiar with the specific devices used in pediatric radiology.

• To know the specific radiation risk concerning children.

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Contents

• Description of specific equipment and auxiliary devices used for children;

• Knowledge of appropriate exposure factors in pediatrics;

• Equipment malfunction affecting radiation protection;

• Criteria of acceptability and quality control.

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Because of their longer life expectancy and their greater sensitivity to radiation, the risk of late radiation effects is greater in children than in adults.

Pediatric Equipment

• In view of this increased radiation risk in younger age, the radiological examination of children (0-15 years) merits special consideration and specific recommendations for pediatric equipment and procedures.

• Pediatric radiology is a recognised sub-speciality within diagnostic radiology and specific education and training should be obligatory for pediatric radiology practitioners.

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The basic criteria for x-ray equipment used in pediatric radiology are the same as for general purpose equipment.

However, additional performance and design requirements are necessary because of the small size of the patients and the special conditions required for many examinations (such as dealing with movement of a child). These include:

Pediatric Equipment (cont)

• very short, accurate and reproducible exposure times;• collimators adjustable to dimensions that may be smaller

than some simple general purpose x-ray equipment may provide.

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• where mobile x-ray equipment must be used (although not advisable), medium or high frequency generators are preferred;

• low x-ray tube voltages should be avoided whenever practicable. Higher x-ray tube voltages and appropriate additional filtration are recommended;

Consequently:

• powerful generators are necessary for the very short time exposure times required (only 12-pulse or medium-high frequency generators should be used to ensure suitable accuracy and reproducibility);

Pediatric Equipment (cont)

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• a nominal focal spot size of between 0.6 mm and 1.3 mm is desirable;

Pediatric Equipment (cont)

• the x-ray beam must be carefully restricted to the area of clinical interest by the use of accurate light beam collimation;

• additional protective shielding must be adapted to children and available in a range of sizes;

• low attenuation materials between the x-ray tube focus and the image receptor (e.g. table top, cassette, anti-scatter grid) will contribute to dose reduction;

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• In infants and younger children, the use of an anti-scatter grid may not always be necessary. Therefore, anti-scatter grids in pediatric equipment must be easily removed by the operator.

Pediatric Equipment (cont)

• Some automatic exposure control (AEC) systems may not function satisfactorily due to the wide range of body thickness and proportion in children. Specially designed pediatric AECs have a small mobile detector for use behind a lead-free cassette.

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• Careful manual selection of exposure factors may result in lower radiation doses.

Pediatric Equipment (cont)

• The selection of faster intensifying screen-film systems, and image intensifiers with high conversion factors, will result in lower radiation doses.

• Proper patient positioning and immobilisation are essential: immobilization devices must be easy to use without stressing the patient.

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Special Equipment for Pediatric

Examinations

Pediatric Equipment (cont)

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Basically the same as for general x-ray systems (see previous lectures) but the tests performed and the measuring instruments used shall be adapted to pediatric equipment.

Quality control programmes are especially important in pediatric radiology services.

Malfunctions affecting radiation protection