Effective dose equivalent HE in diagnostic radiology

To compute values of the effective dose equivalent (HE) per unit of entrance skin dose (plus backscatter) for 12 common radiologic examinations. In this paper these HE data are derived from organ doses calculated for standard man with Monte Carlo techniques and are based on a specific field size. The resultant HE data are presented as functions of x-ray kilovolt peak, beam filtration (mm Al), and the examination projection (anterioposterior, posteroanterior, lateral, or oblique). For x-ray beams at 80-kVp and 2.5-mm Al filtration, and an entrance skin dose (plus backscatter) of 1 mGy, the HE values ranged from a low of 8.0μSv for a lateral cervical spine examination to a high of 176μSv for an AP chest examination. The mean of 22 diagnostic radiologic examinations was computed to be 49μSv ± 43