Effectiveness of Breast and Eye Shielding During Cervical Spine Radiography: An Experimental Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 Schematic of X-ray beams in (A) anteroposterior cervical spine and (B) lateral cervical spine.

Figure 2 Piranha radiation dosimeter in (A) Piranha internal detector and (B) the Piranha external detector.

Figure 3 The anthropometric phantom shows the illustration of the external detector position to measure the absorbed dose in (A) without shielding and (B) with shielding.

Table 1 Radiation Dose in µGy to Radiosensitive Organs During AP Cervical Spine Radiography

	Without Shielding				With Shielding
AP	Exposure	Corrected Exposure	Average	SD	Exposure	Corrected Exposure	Average	SD	% Reduction
Lt eye	13.83	6.92	6.86	0.038	1.24	0.62	0.62	0.003	91%
	13.76	6.88			1.23	0.61
	13.67	6.83			1.23	0.61
	13.69	6.84			1.24	0.62
	13.65	6.82			1.23	0.61
Rt eye	13.90	6.95	6.88	0.107	1.72	0.86	0.79	0.057	89%
	13.89	6.94			1.42	0.71
	13.42	6.71			1.65	0.83
	13.90	6.95			1.57	0.79
	13.65	6.83			1.54	0.77
Lt breast	4.12	2.06	1.99	0.059					99.9%
	4.05	2.03
	3.90	1.95			<0.000	<0.000
	3.98	1.99
	3.82	1.91
Rt breast	3.47	1.73	1.74	0.004					99.9%
	3.47	1.74
	3.47	1.73			<0.000	<0.000
	3.48	1.74
	3.46	1.73

Table 2 Radiation Dose in µGy to Radiosensitive Organs During Lateral Cervical Spine Radiography

	Without Shielding				With Shielding
Lateral	Exposure	Corrected Exposure	Average	SD	Exposure	Corrected Exposure	Average	SD	% Reduction
Lt eye	7.79	3.89	3.88	0.010	5.66	2.83	2.88	0.028	26%
	7.74	3.87			5.78	2.89
	7.75	3.87			5.76	2.88
	7.76	3.88			5.78	2.89
	7.77	3.88			5.80	2.90
Rt eye	5.82	2.91	2.89	0.017	3.75	1.87	2.00	0.211	31%
	5.77	2.88			4.32	2.16
	5.74	2.87			4.25	2.13
	5.80	2.90			4.28	2.14
	5.75	2.88			3.36	1.68
Lt breast	1.96	0.98	0.98	0.005	1.58	0.79			23%
	1.96	0.98			1.52	0.76
	1.96	0.98			1.51	0.76	0.76	0.015
	1.98	0.99			1.50	0.75
	1.97	0.99			1.51	0.76
Rt breast	1.13	0.57	0.61	0.067					99.9%
	1.03	0.51
	1.25	0.62			<0.00	<0.000
	1.33	0.67
	1.33	0.67

Table 3 Results of t-Tests

Cervical Spine Radiography	Shielding	Mean Dose (µGy)	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	P value (Two-Tailed)
AP	Eyes without shielding	6.867	0.07631	0.02413	0.000
	Eyes with shielding	0.703	0.10144	0.03208
AP	Breasts without shielding	1.861	0.1398	0.04421	0.000
	Breasts with shielding	<0.000	0	0
Lateral	Left eye without shielding	3.878	0.00837	0.00374	0.000
	Left eye with shielding	2.878	0.02775	0.01241
Lateral	Right eye without shielding	2.888	0.01643	0.00735	0.000
	Right eye with shielding	1.996	0.21291	0.09522
Lateral	Left breast without shielding	0.984	0.00548	0.00245	0.000
	Left breast with shielding	0.764	0.01517	0.00678
Lateral	Right breast without shielding	0.608	0.0687	0.03072	0.001
	Right breast with shielding	>0.000	0	0