Exposure Creep

papa · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:13 am Post subject:

i'm sorry, i didn't mean to get worked up about that. laziness and lack of caring just drives me nuts.

Rolling Eyes

papa
_________________
Mr. Green

papa RT(R)(CT) Mr. Green

http://sites.google.com/site/delusionalradiology

never meddle in the affairs of a dragon, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup

iraydee8 · Power User Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 64 Location: AZ

The digital technology is a great and wonderful tool. A tool to help us reduce dose and improve image qualtiy. I can't say this enough:

There is not anything too terribly different in the digital world! All we have done is taken the film and replaced it with a imaging plate, replaced the wet film processor with a imaging plate reader and finally repalced the viewboxes with a monitor to view images on.
The rules of x-ray physics haven't changed. We stilll have to play by the rules. If we don't then our image quality decreased and our patient dose can increase. One of the worse things techs can and WILL do is to not collimate, and apply post image shutters. Did we ever do this in the film screen department. NO! So why is it that techs seem to think it is ok now?????

Especially since we are are trained to preform medical image at the lowest diangnost dose to the patient (ALARA) I just cant seem to understand how those "lazy, selfish, damaging, unethical " techs think that this is easier then applying collimation at the beam. Where is their pride? Ok now I know Iam ranting, but this really P.....sses me off! Mad

And these are the techs teaching the new up and coming student! So it's only going to get worse. Just wait till someone gets pulled into court because of exposure area and or not sending the entire exposed area to the Radiologist.

It will happen and since this is NOT the place any of us want to end up in . I say just do it pre-exposure and leave those shutters alone to be only used for thier intended purposes.

OK OK I know ! I guess I'm done. sorry but this one really, well; you know what~!
_________________
iraydee8

papa · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:23 pm Post subject:

getting even more towards the dose creep subject -- CT.

this may have been where it started. now, when i shoot x-ray, i rarely will phototime. i just don't trust the digital equipment or the photo timer that much. the only thing i really phototime on is my chests, because the technique can be completely different depending on wether or not there's fluid in the lungs.

in CT, there's no number or anything that tells you that your image has been over exposed. i could do a chest ct with 200 mA, and it look fantastic, or do it with 800 mA, and it looks the same. GE has come out with the Auto mA, which takes a lot of the thinking out.

where as i'm generally oposed to photo timing x-rays, this auto mA is a fantastic idea, simply because i can't visualize an overexposed scan. what people were doing before things like auto mA was either manually setting a technique, or over exposing the patient. god forbid, you had to change from single slice to MDCT, then you'd have to rethink your numbers. what if you were doing a chest and abdomen? does the chest really need an abdomen technique? and what about your pediatrics? a 5 year old doesn't need the same as a 15 year old, who doesn't need as much as a 25 year old. i know it sounds obvious, but i've seen techs do this. using an adult CT technique on a pediatric is unforgiveable.

USE YOUR BRAIN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!

sorry, guess i've gotten carried away again.. Embarassed

papa RT(R)(CT)
_________________
Mr. Green

papa RT(R)(CT) Mr. Green

http://sites.google.com/site/delusionalradiology

never meddle in the affairs of a dragon, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup

hjhogle · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject:

Please don't apologize for nudging colleagues to act like professionals, not button pushers.

Smile

papa · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject:

push....

......

push....

....

push ....

.....

i know, but there's a difference between the nudge i can give and the swift kick that some of them need Mr. Green

papa
_________________
Mr. Green

papa RT(R)(CT) Mr. Green

http://sites.google.com/site/delusionalradiology

never meddle in the affairs of a dragon, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup