• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4699-4704
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• 2015

Medical diagnostic X-ray workers are one occupational group that expose to the long-term low-dose external radiation over their working lifetime, and they may under risk of different cancers. This study aims to determine the relationship between the occupational X-ray radiation exposure and cancer risk among these workers in Jiangsu, China. We conducted Nested case-control study to investigate the occupational X-ray radiation exposure and cancer risk. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire, which includes but not limits to demographic data, personal behaviors and family history of cancer. Retrospective dose reconstruction was conducted to estimate the cumulative doses of the x-ray workers. Inferential statistics, t-test and 2 tests were used to compare the differences between each group. We used the logistic regression model to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of cancer by adjusting the age, gender. All 34 breast cancer cases and 45 esophageal cancer cases that detected in a cohort conducted among health workers between 1950~2011 were included in this presented study, and 158 cancer-free controls were selected by frequency-matched (1:2). Our study found that the occupational radiation exposure was associated with a significantly increased cancer risk compared with the control, especially in breast cancer and esophageal cancer (adjusted OR=2.90, 95% CI: 1.19-7.04 for breast cancer; OR=4.19, 95% CI: 1.87-9.38 for esophageal cancer, and OR=3.43, 95% CI: 1.92-6.12 for total cancer, respectively). The occupational X-ray radiation exposure was associated with increasing cancer risk, which indicates that proper intervention and prevention strategies may be needed in order to bring down the occupational cancer risk.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2022

Background: For proper monitoring of the eye lens dose, an appropriate calibration factor of a dosimeter and information about the mean energies of X-rays are indispensable. The scattered X-ray energy spectra should be well characterized in medical practices where eye lenses of medical staffs might be high. Materials and Methods: Scattered X-ray energy spectra were experimentally derived for three different types of X-ray diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, i.e., the computed tomography (CT) scan, the angiography and the fluoroscopy. A commercially available CdZnTe (CZT) spectrometer with a lead collimator was employed for the measurement of scattered X-rays, which was performed in the usual manner. Results and Discussion: From the obtained energy spectra, the mean energies of the scattered X-rays lied between 40 and 60 keV. This also agreed with that obtained by the conventional half value layer method. Conclusion: The scattered X-rays to which medical workers may be exposed in the region around the eyes were characterized by means of spectrometry. The obtained mean energies of the scattered X-rays were found to match the flat region of the dosimeter response.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.44-48
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• 1997

For the efficient management of the diagnostic x-ray equipment, a nation-wide inspection of hospitals was performed by an inspection institute in Taejon in the first half of 1997. Among those hospitals inspected, 28 equipments(machines) which were over 500 mA were randomly selected according to their characteristics : 7 condenser type x-ray equipments, 7 three control phase of full wave rectification of type remote control x-ray equipments, 7 single phase of full wave rectification type for general radiography equipments, and 7 single phase of full wave rectification type of R/F equipments. We obtained the following results by conducting the experiment based on the efficiency of the equipments mentioned above. 1) When the equipments are analyzed, 2 out of 7 single phase of full wave rectification type of general radiography equipments(28.6%), 3 out of 7 single phase of full wave rectification type of R/F equipments(42.9%), 5 out of 7 three phase of full wave rectification type remote of control x-ray equipments(71.4%), and 4 out of 7 condenser type of x-ray equipments(57.1%) showed suitability. It proves the superiority of the three phase of full wave rectification type of remote control x-ray equipments. 2) From the overall analysis, only about 50% of the equipments(suitability of 14 out of 28) maintain the efficient management. Therefore, maintenance management of equipments is more necessary. If the efficiency of the x-ray equipment is uniformly maintained and managed to prevent the breakdown(trouble) beforehand especially through the continuous inspection of tube voltage, tube current, exposure time, and collimator, the financial loss and exposure dose to the patient, as well as the workers engaged in radiation, can be reduced for better medical service.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.27-64
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• 1988

Most hospital administrators in our country have doubted whether or not the size of their hospital personnel staffs, and the personnel management styles implemented are efficient or not. Actually, increased personnel expenditures due to sophisticated specialization of medical practices has become the biggest hospital expense. Therefore, it is said that hospitals can be run move efficiently by implementing reasonable management strategies for hospital personnel management. In this paper, the departments of diagnostic radiography in 16 general hospitals in Seoul, which were classified into 4 groups by the scale of hospital beds, were used as sample cases. Then, the data for the number of X-ray examination by diagnostic item was collected from sample hospitals. The unit hour spent on X-ray examinations in each diagnostic service was quoted from "A Study on setting-up of the relative value units of medical services and on the structure of current fee schedules" written by Mr. Ik Je Seong. The data analysis results are as follows; First, the number of hours per day spent on X-ray examinations in 13 hospitals out of 16 hospitals, was shorter than the general daily working hours (8 hours). Second, in the morning there was not enough time to work for X-ray examinations required, with the available manpower. In the afternoon, however, the situation was diametrically opposed to that in the morning. Third, in light of above results, though most hospitals employ sufficient personnel for the quantity of the actural work, they were always short-handed where their works were performed Fourth, this study tells us that there is a maldistribution of the work in the schedule : too much work for the available personnel in the morning. The following recommendations are resulted from the data analysis described above. First, it is recommended that all out-patients coming again, except specific patients(G. B. or I.V.P. etc) who have to have their X-ray examinations on an empty stomach in the morning among out-patients, be required to visit the hospital in the afternoon. Second, it is recommended that all new out-patients be required to make a reservation in order to equalize the number of patients throughout the day. Third, it is recommended that all in-patients, except specified patients, be arranged to have their X-ray examinations in the afternoon. Fourth, it is recommended that part time workers be employed during peak hours. This recommendation, if applied in a wider scale, would allow hospitals to overcome the problem of the maldistribution of work and personnel, and then more efficient hospital management through the appropirate personnel management procedures could be expected.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2010

A total of 200 hospital employees participated in this study from January 2009 to June 2010. For the survey, each participant was given necessary items for external health exams. Cronbach's alpha was calculated for the survey regarding wireless networks. There was a need for educating data processing workers in the medical field regarding fundamental information prior to wireless network construction. The reason is high scores would be collected, which would reflect knowledge regarding data processing used at hospitals and the differences between paper charts and electronic charts. However, low scores were obtained which reflected knowledge regarding the differences between wired and wireless networks and Mini-PACS. Time for each patient was shortened to a maximum of three minutes and minimum of one minute for treatment and transmitting medical images when comparing pre and post wireless network construction(p < 0.01). Scores from the pre and post construction survey increase 1.98, 1.65, and 1.43 points for activity in the health screening area, usage of space in the health screening vehicle, and patient information storage respectively(p < 0.05). The number of patients receiving external health screenings twelve times was 3,655 prior to construction of a wireless network system. However, the number increased to 4,265 after construction. The increasing percentage was 17% in total. Prior to construction, X-ray images were taken 527 times, but after construction of a wireless network, this number growed to 1,194 and it was 116% increase. The loss of patient's medical treatment charts was reduced from 19.8% to 18.7% after construction. We believe that educating medical workers on Mini-PACS and Mini-OCS Systems will not only increase their efficiency but also make patients receiving better treatment.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.151-157
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• 2014

A nationwide survey on radiation safety management in Korean animal hospitals was conducted. By 2013, 53 radiation generators were registered as veterinary medical devices (41 X-ray generators and 12 computed tomography scanners). Additionally there were six approved laboratories for radiation equipment and protection facility, and five approved laboratories for radiation exposure of employees, respectively. By March 2013, 2,030 out of 3,829 animal hospitals operated radiation-generating devices. Among these devices, 389 (19.2%) out of 2,030 were not labeled with the model name and 746 (36.7%) were not labeled with production dates. Thus, most veterinary X-ray generators were outdated (42.6%) and needed replacements. When periodic inspections of 2,018 animal hospitals were performed after revision of the Veterinarians Act in 2011, the hospitals were found to be equipped with appropriate radiation generators and protection facilities. Among 2,545 employees exposed to radiation at the hospitals, 93.9% were veterinarians, 4.3% were animal nurse technicians, and 18% held other positions. Among 169 employees supervised by administrators, none of those had a weekly maximum operating load that exceeded $10mA{\cdot}min$. This study suggests that the radiation safety management system of animal hospitals was general good.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.109-116
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• 1976

Reorganization of myun health care service is one of the main issues in health care delivery in rural Korea. The fundamenta, concept of the role and function of the myun health subcenter is that it is the basic unit of rural health care service and is to provide comprehensive health care service through the integration of curative and preventive services. The aim of this study is to analyze the patterns of curative activities in the myun health subcenter in terms of the most prevalent types of diseases, necessary diagnostic methods and required equipment, types of treatment, necessary drugs and materials, and finally the cost of curative services. The population on which this study was done was the 1596 patients who visited the two myun health subcenters (Sunwon Myun and Naega Myun) in Kang Wha County, the area of the Yonsei University Community Health Teaching Project, during period from May 1, 1975 to June 10, 1976. For the patient's record in the clinic, problem oriented medical records were used. Decisions regarding the disease classification, the diagnostic methods used and selection of the most appropriate and adequate medical treatment were made by a group of three experienced physicians after reviewing the medical records which had been written by public physicians who were treating patients in the study area. The records were reviewed by resident staff members of the Department of Preventive Medicine, of Yonsei University College of Medicine. A brief summary of results of the study is as follow: 1. 29.9% of the patients who visited the clinics were ages between 0-4. No sex difference was observed among patients less than 20 years of age. However, among patients over 20 years old, females predominated. Thus it is evident that the majority of patients were either children or mothers and grandmothers. 2. The distance from the individual villages to the myun health subcenter was one of important factors in determining the ratio of clinic visits. However, other factors such as the activities of the health workers also affected the rates substantially. 3. The most common 25 diseases comprised 90.2% of all the diseases recorded. Acute respiratory infection (25.5%), Skin (12.7%) , diarrheal diseases (6.8%), neuralgia and back pain (4.9%) and. all other injuries (3.9%) were the five most common diseases. 4. Of all the diseases diagnosed and treated, 9.2% required simple laboratory tests for diagnosis, 6.5% required X-ray examination, and altogether 13.6% required either laboratory test or X-ray examination. 5. Treatment and management of 42.0% of the cases could be accomplished with simple, inexpensive drugs, 12.8% required the use of more expensive drugs (mostly antibiotics) and injections were required in 19.7% of the cases. Minor surgery and referral were necessary in 5% of the cases. 6. The cost for diagnosis and treatment was estimated with a standard which was set by general concensus. The average cost of diagnosis was 144 per case and the cost of treatment was 726 per case, The Total average cost per visit was 870.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.3 s.54
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• pp.471-482
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• 1996

Early recognition of coalescence in pneumoconiotic lesions is important because such coalescence is associated with the respiratory symptoms and deterioration of lung function. This complicated form of pneumoconiosis also has worse prognosis than does simple pneumoconiosis. High resolution computerized tomography(HRCT) provides significant additional information on the stage of the pneumoconiosis because it easily detects coalescence of nodules and emphysema that may not be apparent on the simple radiograph. The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of HRCT in detection of large opacity and the relationship of change between the coalescence of nodules or emphysema and lung function in dust exposed workers. 1. There was good correlation between the HRCT grade of pneumoconiosis and ILO category of profusion. 5(9.09%) in 55 study population had confluent nodule extending eve, two o, more cuts on HRCT. HRCT could identify the pneumoconiotic nodules which was not found by simple radiogrphy in 6 workers with category 0/0. 2. No significant difference was observed coalescence of nodules and emphysema by dust type. 3. There was no significant difference in pulmonary function according to ILO and HRCT classification. 4. HRCT could detect the significant reduction in $FEV_1,\;FEV_1/FVC$, PEFR, $FEF_{25},\;FEF_{50},\;and\;FEF_{75}$ and remarkable increase in RV and TLC in study persons with emphysema compared with non-emphysema group. 5. Emphysema was found more often in nodules-coalescence group than small opacity group by HRCT. We found that HRCT could easily detect areas of coalescence and complicated emphysema compared to plain chest X-ray. Also our data suggest that it is primarily the degree of emphysema rather than the degree of pneumoconiosis that determines the level of pulmonary function.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2014

The bi-plane cerebrovascular angiography radiation is done the radiation exposure at the forward and lateral direction as opposed to the one of the source. So, the exposure dose of radiation workers increases further. Therefore, the medical diagnostic radiation workers as well as patients is interested to ways to reduce the dose. The exposure dose of cerebral angiography and interventional radiology must be considered the primary radiation of X-ray tube directly, scattered primary radiation between lateral tube and lateral detector and relatively small secondary scatter radiation in the walls of room. The aim of study is that the exposure dose of primary and scatter radiation reduce as much as possible to install protection device of lateral protection than common shielding of table and ceiling. As a result, the dose of fluoroscopy was reduced approximately 3.64 times the gonads, thyroid approximately 3.13 times, 4.42 times around eyes. And the dose of DSA was reduced approximately 4.98 times the gonads, thyroid approximately 3.00 times, 1.67 times around eyes. Consequently, medical practitioners can be helpful for radiation dose-exposure for the lateral protection of bi-plane cerebrovascular angiography more than the common shield method in cerebrovascular angiography and interventional radiological procedures.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to describe the results of a contact investigation on health care workers after exposure to a house officer with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Methods: Eighty nine out of 101 subjects who had close contact with the index patient agreed to be enrolled in the investigation. The first contact investigation was conducted approximately 30 days after the index patient's onset of symptoms, followed by the second investigation after 10 weeks. In both, clinical manifestations were studied, and chest X-ray and tuberculin skin test (TST)/QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) in dual screening strategy were conducted. Results: The first TST resulted in positive in 34 subjects (38.2%). QFT-G was conducted on 16 subjects who tested positive in the first TST and aged under 36. Six of them (37.5%) were positive. The second TST was conducted on 41 subjects with negative results in the first TST. Seventeen (41.5%) were positive and among them, three (17.6%) showed positive QFT-G. None of the subjects were diagnosed with active TB. The probability of TB infection through contact with the index patient was 7.3% (3/41) in dual screening strategy while it was 41.5% (17/41) in TST strategy. Conclusions: This first hospital-setting contact investigation for tuberculosis in Korea revealed that latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) rates vary depending on different diagnostic strategies. This indicates the need for systematic guidelines for diagnosing LTBI in health care workers who have professional exposure to TB.