Effect of patient size on doses received by patients in diagnostic radiology

A large number of people in this country receive X-rays every year. It would be of value to determine the dose received by an individual, and to follow the medical histories of each. However, it is shown that with currently available information, it is not possible to determine with sufficient accuracy the dose received by an individual exposed to diagnostic X-rays. Therefore, this step in establishing a dose-response relationship is more imprecise than it need be. A suggestion is made on using the exposure-area product to overcome this difficulty.