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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Irradiator Commissioning and Dosimetry for Assessment of LQ α and β Parameters, Radiation Dosing Schema, and in vivo Dose Deposition
Published on: March 11, 2021
[Typical patient radiation doses in diagnostic imaging]
J-F Chateil1, B Aubert, H Brisse
1Service d'Imagerie Anténatale, de l'Enfant et de la Femme, Hôpital Pellegrin, Place A Raba Léon, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. jean-francois.chateil@chu-bordeaux.fr
Abstract:
Radiologists should be able to appreciate the radiation dose delivered to patients for routine diagnostic procedures. The radiology report should include data necessary to calculate the patient dose in Gray. Using the effective dose, it is possible to compare with other source of radiation exposure. Simple formulas, taking into account different anatomical regions, derived from dose-area product (conventional radiography) or dose-length product (CT) are provided to calculate the effective dose in Sievert. For conventional (non-interventional) radiography, the effective dose for a given exam is inferior or equal to the yearly background radiation. For CT, the effective dose corresponds to 1 to 10 years of yearly background radiation.
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