ESTIMATION OF THE ORGAN AND EFFECTIVE DOSE TO PATIENTS UNDERGOING MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC X-RAY EXAMINATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA.

Quantifying the radiological risk from diagnostic radiography is essential for patients' safety. Effective dose is considered the best quantity to determine the stochastic risk associated with the radiological examinations. Therefore, the present work investigated organ and effective dose for adult patients in the most common type of X-ray examinations, such as the chest (PA/LAT), abdomen (AP) and lumbar spine (AP/LAT) projections.

Assessment of Patient Radiation Dose during Conventional Diagnostic X-ray Examinations in Three Public Hospitals in Northern Jordan using TLDs.

This study aims to measure entrance surface doses during routine chest and abdomen x-ray examinations of adult and child patients. Radiation dose measurements were performed using thermoluminescent dosimeters TLD-100s in three major public hospitals in northern Jordan on a total of 100 patients. Wide variations in entrance surface doses were observed within and between hospitals, which might be attributed to significant variations of the selected exposure parameters.

Assessment of the committed effective dose due to the Po intake from fish consumption for the Arabian Gulf population.

This study aims to assess the committed effective dose due to the intake of Po from the consumption of fish in Arabian Gulf countries. Twenty different kinds of fish, which represent the most common fish species consumed in the Arabian Gulf countries, were analyzed using alpha spectrometer technique. Po activity concentrations in fish samples were found to vary over a wide range from 0.

Measurement of natural and artificial radioactivity in powdered milk consumed in Jordan and estimates of the corresponding annual effective dose.

The activity concentrations of (40)K, (226)Ra, (228)Ra and (137)Cs were measured for 14 brands of the powdered milk consumed in Jordan, which are imported from various regions around the world. The activity concentrations of (40)K were found not to vary greatly from one brand to the other with an average of 348 +/- 26 Bq kg(-1). However, the activity concentrations of (137)Cs revealed a geographical distribution being: (i) undetected in any of the samples from Argentina, (ii) uniformly distributed in samples from Europe with an average of 0.

A software tool for 2D/3D visualization and analysis of phase-space data generated by Monte Carlo modelling of medical linear accelerators.

A computer program has been developed for novel 2D/3D visualization and analysis of the phase-space parameters of Monte Carlo simulations of medical accelerator radiation beams. The software is written in the IDL language and reads the phase-space data generated in the BEAMnrc/BEAM Monte Carlo code format. Contour and colour-wash plots of the fluence, mean energy, energy fluence, mean angle, spectra distribution, energy fluence distribution, angular distribution, and slices and projections of the 3D ZLAST distribution can be calculated and displayed.

Internal target volume determined with expansion margins beyond composite gross tumor volume in three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for lung cancer.

Purpose: Gross tumor volume (GTV) of lung cancer defined by fast helical CT scan represents an image of moving tumor captured at a point in active respiratory movement. However, the method for defining internal margins beyond GTV to account for its expected physiologic movement and all variations in size and shape during the administration of radiation has not been established. The goal of this study was to determine the internal margins with expansion margins beyond individual GTVs defined with (1) fast scan at shallow free breathing, (2) breath-hold scans at the end of tidal volume inspiration and expiration, and (3) 4-s slow scan to approximate the composite GTV of all scans.