• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2021

Kerma Area Product (KAP) is best indicator of radiation monitoring on radiographic examinations. KAP can be measured differently depending on the X-ray irradiation area, air kerma, souce-skin distance, type of equipment, etc. The major factors are exposure area and the air krema. The KAP currently used only considers the exposure area with X-rays and has a problem that KAP is always excessively overestimated from the dose received by an actual subject. Therefore, in this study, in order to measure the accurate KAP, a new area dose calculation that can be calculated by dividing the area where the actual X-ray is irradiated is presented, and the KAP is the real area. We compared and analyzed how much it was overestimated compared to the dose. The Skull AP projection and seven other projection were compared and analyzed, and the KAP was overestimated in each test by 52% to 60%. In this way, the effective KAP (EKAP) calculation developed through this study should be utilized to prevent extra calculation of the existing KAP, and only the accurate patient subject area should be calculated to derive the accurate area dose value. EKAP is helpful for control the patient's exposure dose more finely, and it is useful for the quality control of medical radiation exposure.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.302-308
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• 2011

The aim of this study is to compare reference levels for radiation dose in angiography and interventional radiology. Proposed reference levels for various procedures and classification of diseases are provided by fluoroscopy time and kerma area product(KAP) rate normalizing the body habitus focusing the cerebrum. Subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) represents the highest KAP-rates and aneurysm represents the lowest KAP-rates. According to these types of procedures, internal carotid artery(ICA), common carotid artery(CCA), and vertebral artery(VA) show the highest KAP-rates and guglielmi detachable coil shows the lowest KAP-rates. Therefore, the present study can suggested reference levels for patient radiation dose and is expected to be further useful in the field of radiation dose education and management of angiography and interventional radiology.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.769-776
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• 2018

According IEC 60601-1 ed3.1 and IEC 60601-2-45 regulation, diagnostic X-ray equipment should be display to measured and calculated air kerma area product. On the clinical X ray equipment, air kerma area product dosimeter would like to have an evidence for dosimeter accuracy and energy dependency. This study was performed to indirect calibration and energy dependency test for attached type air kerma area product (KAP) dosimeter by RQR standards beam quality. On the RQR5 beam quality, attached KAP dosimeter error showed -7.5%, respectably. On the RQR9 beam quality, attached KAP dosimeter error showed -10.4%, respectably. All RQR beam quality, average absolute error was $8.30%{\pm}2.85%$, respectably. On this study, attached KAP dosimeter was satisfied to IEC 60580 and AAPM TG 190. This calibration method of KAP dosimeter will help to performance maintain for clinical KAP dosimeter.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.501-508
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• 2023

This study used a adult absorption dose phantom (CIRS model 701-G, USA) made of human equivalent material and the vascular imaging equipment Allura Xper FD 20 (Philips, Netherlands). Optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLD) were inserted into the anatomical positions corresponding to each organ, and the exposure dose was measured. Dose area product (DAP) and air kerma (AK) measured by the dose meter in the equipment were compared. Continuous imaging was performed at two angles for a total of 20 minutes, with a frame per seconds of 3.75 and 7.5 fps and an FOV of 42 cm, 37 cm, and 31 cm, respectively, under the conditions of fluoflavor I, II, and III, each selected for 5 repetitions. This study was found that selecting a lower fps was the most effective way to reduce patient exposure dose, and adjusting the fluoflavor was a good alternative method for reducing patient exposure dose at high fps. Therefore the method of condition change with the greatest dose reduction effect is to set the minimum FPS and can reduce patient exposure dose according to geometric conditions and fluoflavor characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.681-689
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• 2023

Objective: Three-dimensional rotational angiography (3D-RA) is increasingly used for the evaluation of intracranial aneurysms (IAs); however, radiation exposure to the lens is a concern. We investigated the effect of head off-centering by adjusting table height on the lens dose during 3D-RA and its feasibility in patient examination. Materials and Methods: The effect of head off-centering during 3D-RA on the lens radiation dose at various table heights was investigated using a RANDO head phantom (Alderson Research Labs). We prospectively enrolled 20 patients (58.0 ± 9.4 years) with IAs who were scheduled to undergo bilateral 3D-RA. In all patients' 3D-RA, the lens dose-reduction protocol involving elevation of the examination table was applied to one internal carotid artery, and the conventional protocol was applied to the other. The lens dose was measured using photoluminescent glass dosimeters (GD-352M, AGC Techno Glass Co., LTD), and radiation dose metrics were compared between the two protocols. Image quality was quantitatively analyzed using source images for image noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio. Additionally, three reviewers qualitatively assessed the image quality using a five-point Likert scale. Results: The phantom study showed that the lens dose was reduced by an average of 38% per 1 cm increase in table height. In the patient study, the dose-reduction protocol (elevating the table height by an average of 2.3 cm) led to an 83% reduction in the median dose from 4.65 mGy to 0.79 mGy (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between dose-reduction and conventional protocols in the kerma area product (7.34 vs. 7.40 Gy·cm², P = 0.892), air kerma (75.7 vs. 75.1 mGy, P = 0.872), and image quality. Conclusion: The lens radiation dose was significantly affected by table height adjustment during 3D-RA. Intentional head off-centering by elevation of the table is a simple and effective way to reduce the lens dose in clinical practice.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2016

The use of cardiac angiography (CA) and the interventional procedures is rapidly increasing due to the increase in modern adult diseases. Cardiovascular intervention (CI) is an examination method where radiation is applied to the same area for a long period, and thus may cause skin injury. In this study, we investigate the diagnostic reference level (DRL) of the cardiovascular intervention (CI) carried out by medical institutions and use it as a tool to reduce patient exposure dose. In this study, the DRL was set by acquiring information about the cumulative fluoroscopy time, cumulative fluoroscopy dose-area product (DAP), radiography DAP, cumulative DAP, air kerma, number of video clips, and the total number of images from the cardiac angiography and interventional procedures performed on 147 patients. The DAPs corresponding to the DRL of cardiac angiography(CA) and that of the interventional procedures were shown to be $44.4Gy{\cdot}cm2$ and $298.6Gy{\cdot}cm2$, respectively; the corresponding DRLs of fluoroscopy time were shown to be 191.5s and 1935.3s, respectively. A DRL is not a strict upper bound for radiation exposure. However, the process of setting, enacting, and reviewing the DRLs for the dose by medical institutions will contribute to a reduction in the unnecessary exposure dose of patients.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.509-517
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• 2023

This study analyzed imaging conditions and exposure index through clinical information collection and dose calculation programs in coronary angiography examinations. Through this, we aim to analyze the effective dose according to examination conditions and provide basic data for dose optimization. In this study, ALARA(As Low As Reasonably Achievable)-F(Fluoroscopy), a program for evaluating the radiation dose of patients and the collected clinical data, was used. First, analysis of imaging conditions and exposure index was performed based on the data of the dose report generated after coronary angiography. Second, after evaluating organ dose according to 9 imaging directions during coronary angiography, with the LAO fixed at 30°, dose evaluation was performed according to tube voltage, tube current, number of frames, focus-skin distance, and field size. Third, the effective dose for each organ was calculated according to the tissue weighting factors presented in ICRP(International Commission on Radiological Protection) recommendations. As a result, the average sum of air kerma during coronary angiography was evaluated as 234.0±112.1 mGy, the dose-area product was 25.9±13.0 Gy·cm², and the total fluoroscopy time was 2.5±2.0 min. Also, the organ dose tended to increase as the tube voltage, milliampere-second, number of frames, and irradiation range increased, whereas the organ dose decreased as the FSD increased. Therefore, medical radiation exposure to patients can be reduced by selecting the optimal tube voltage and field size during coronary angiography, maximizing the focal-skin distance, using the lowest tube current possible, and reducing the number of frames.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.845-852
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• 2018

This study aimed to investigate the difference of X-ray exposure by comparing and analyzing absorbed dose according to changes in the number of frames in coronary angiography, also depending whether the zoom mode is FOV enlargement or Zoom Live. Moreover, for appropriate frame selection measures for examination, including the effect of frame change on the image quality, were sought by measuring the noise strength expressed by the standard deviation (SD), the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR). The study was conducted with an anthropomorphic phantom on an angio-system. The linear relationship between the frame rate and the radiation dose was evident. On the contrary, the indices of image quality (SD, SNR, and CNR) were almost constant irrespective of the number of frames. The difference depending on the zoom mode was not statistically significant for DAP, air kerma, and SD (p > 0.05). However, SNR and CNR were statistically different between FOV enlargement and Zoom Live. In conclusion, since the image quality was not degraded significantly with the decreasing frame rate from 30, 15, to 7.5 f/s and the radiation dose evidently decreases in almost exactly linear proportion to the decreasing frame rate, the number of frames per second needs to be maintained as low as reasonably achievable. As for the dependence on the zooming mode, the Live Zoom mode showed statistically significant improvement in the image quality indices of SNR and CNR and it justifies active use of the Live Zoom mode which enables real-time image enlargment without additional radiation dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.589-595
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• 2023

If complete coronary artery occlusion occurs due to severer coronary spasm, malignant arrhythmias can lead to death. Therefore, early screening for coronary artery spasm angina is essential. Among the test methods, the drug injection test through coronary angiography is generally performed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the advantages of ergonovine drug test for vasospasitc angina examination during coronary angiography, such as the relationship between the procedure time, contrast medium usage, and radiation exposure effects of coronary angiography. Follow-up data of 142 patients who underwent coronary angiography and variant angina examination from september 2021 to february 2023 were used. As a result of analyzing contrast usage dose and dose area product and air kerma dose and number of imaging series and procedure time, variant angina examination was statistically significantly higher than coronary angiography. (p<0.001) In conclusion, variant angina examination other than coronary artery angiography are radiologically negative. Therefore, we think it is better to avoid excessive inspection. Nevertheless, in the case of the provocation test, the longer the examination time, the higher the fluoroscopy time and the amount of contrast medium used, so it is better to conduct the test as quickly as possible or shorten it.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.551-556
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• 2023

Angiography equipment is used to evaluate and treat coronary artery disease. As a common feature of equipment, radiation is used, and function development for dose reduction is being carried out by each company. Therefore, the difference depending on whether DCR installed in angiography equipment is used is analyzed from a radiological point of view to prove the effect. Among 431 patients who underwent coronary artery intervention from March 2021 to February 2023, 250 patients with retrospective data were selected. And than among the 250 subjects obtained, 91 patients used the cardiovascular roadmap function during single-vessel intervention, and 159 patients did not use the roadmap. When DCR was used, total dose area product (34.57 uGy/m² : 69.15 uGy/m²), total air kerma dose (688.47 mGy : 1640.4 mGy), fluoroscopy dose (23.87 uGy/m² : 49.91 uGy/m²) and fluoroscopy time (723.55 s : 366.03 s), total number of images (17 : 26) showed lower values and were statistically significant than those not used. The use of DCR function in single vessel coronary intervention is thought to be radiologically safer as single vessel coronary intervention using dynamic cardiovascular DCR showed lower perspective time and perspective dose than procedures performed without the DCR.