Use of radiation in health care
Radiation doses of radiographic examinations
|
Examination |
Effective dose (mSv) |
Dose equivalence *) as PA images (number of) |
Dose equivalence during exposure to background radiation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Limb, e.g. knee |
0.01 |
0.3 |
1 day |
|
Paranasal sinuses |
0.03 |
1 |
3 days |
|
Lung (PA view) |
0.03 |
1 |
3 days |
|
Lung (PA view and LAT view) |
0.07 |
2 |
8 days |
|
Cranial |
0.1 |
3 |
12 days |
|
Cervical spine |
0.2 |
7 |
24 days |
|
Mammography |
0.2 |
7 |
24 days |
|
Thoracic spine |
0,4 |
13 |
1.5 months |
|
Pelvis |
0,3 |
10 |
1 month |
|
Lumbar vertebrae |
0,8 |
30 |
3 months |
|
Abdomen (native) |
0.8 |
30 |
3 months |
|
Urinary tract (urography) |
2.4 |
80 |
9 months |
|
CT scans |
|||
|
Head |
1.2 |
40 |
4.5 months |
|
Pulmonary |
4 |
130 |
16 months |
|
Abdomen |
7 |
230 |
2 years |
| Body | 9 | 300 | 3 years |
| Interventional radiologi | |||
| Coronary artery examination using a contrast medium | 8 | 270 | 2.5 years |
| Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty | 20 | 650 | 6.5 years |
*) PA = posterioranterior views
According to STUK’s investigation, the data presented in the table is equal to the average radiation expo-sure of a person residing in Finland. The doses caused by both background radiation and X-ray examinations vary in different locations. Variation in excess of 30 per cent is not uncommon.