Evaluation of patient dose in some mammography centres in Iran.

High diagnostic sensitivity and specificity while maintaining the least dose to the patient is the ideal mammography. The objective of this work was to evaluate patient dose and image quality of mammograms to propose corrective actions. The image quality for 1242 patient in 7 mammography facilities in Tehran city was evaluated based on selected image quality criteria using a three-point scale. Clinical image quality, the entrance surface air kerma, the average glandular dose and optical density of films for standard PMMA phantom of 4.5 cm thickness were evaluated. The results showed that up to 72 % of mammograms were in good condition to be diagnosed, and only about 3.4 % of the images were unacceptable or with suboptimal quality. The entrance surface air kerma values were in the range of 3.8-10.5 mGy, average glandular dose 0.5-1.8 mGy and optical density of films 0.74-2.03. The image quality evaluation after correction actions, periodic image quality evaluation and using the correct equipment certainly will improve patient dose.

Criteria for patient release according to external dose rate and residual activity in patients treated with 131I-sodium iodide in Iran.

External dose rate (ED) and residual activity (RA) of patients treated with (131)I sodium iodide are two main factors, to consider before release of patients. In this study, six nuclear medicine centres out of total seven centres in Iran were selected and measurements have been done on 330 patients. ED of patients was measured by physicists of the centres for 6 months (May-November 2009) at a 1 m distance from the thyroid of each patient on the first, second and third days after administration by a calibrated survey meter. The maximum and minimum values of ED were 21 (SD = 18) and 11 (SD = 4) µSv h(-1), respectively. Furthermore, the maximum and minimum values of RA during release of patient were 720 and 250 MBq, respectively. According to the study, we recommend a release activity limit of 500 MBq (14 mCi) or a dose rate level of 20 µSv h(-1) at 1 m from the patient to be set instead of a release activity limit of 1100 MBq (30 mCi) as it is now for the country.