Aug. 6, 2014
It was an honor to share my research at the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists annual conference as an ISEA recipient. Radiologic science professionals in the U.S. have an important perspective on best practices in the profession and the challenges we face every day, and I hope that my findings on x-ray field size and its effect on reducing patient exposure will encourage technologists to routinely collimate during image acquisition.
During my visit to St. John’s, I also learned from Canada’s radiologic science professionals as they strive toward excellence. I gained insight into Canada’s pursuit of best practices in the radiologic sciences, as well as Canadian technologists’ accomplishments and challenges. I also had the chance to compare differences and similarities in the profession between Canada and the U.S.
Technologists around the world share the commitment to limit patient radiation exposure, and we must collaborate to achieve best practices in the radiologic sciences.
Terri’s Research
Terri investigated the effect of reducing x-ray field size on patient dosimetry during lumbar spine imaging. She measured patient exposure directly by thermoluminescent dosimeter chips embedded in an anthropomorphic phantom’s tissues. “I was interested in this topic because postprocessing masking, or cropping the image, appears to be a common practice in digital radiography,” said Terri. But postprocessing masking or cropping doesn’t improve image quality or reduce patient exposure, she explained. “I was curious to know how much change in patient exposure occurs when manually collimating, along with the increase in mAs necessary to maintain the exposure to the image receptor.” Terri’s research was published in the November/December 2013 issue of Radiologic Technology.
This article was excerpted from “R.T.s Share Knowledge on Global Scale” by Terri Fauber and Linda Alfred, originally published in ASRT Scanner, Vol. 45, No. 5, Pages 22-23.