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Book review |
This is a somewhat unusual publication in that, with the exception of a short introduction, all the contributions have been published in Applied Radiation and Isotopes.
In the introduction, the editors suggest that, as well as dealing with the methodology for evaluating radiological doses in radiological imaging and presenting data on radiological doses, the book also deals with the closely related question of image quality. In the event, in spite of a very good early chapter on the methodology of measuring image quality, none of the later chapters apply these methods in parallel with dose measurements.
Notwithstanding, the overall quality of the material is high, as one would expect from an impressive list of contributors, many of whom have international reputations in the area of patient dose measurement. The coverage is comprehensive, with chapters on plain film examinations, interventional fluoroscopy, computed tomography, mammography and bone mineral density assessment.
I was particularly interested in the chapter that re-examines the possibility of using the concept of energy imparted during a radiological examination as an indicator of risk. The authors showed that when the energy imparted was normalized to patient mass, giving a mean absorbed dose, there was a fairly close correlation with effective dose. It is important to realize that tissue weighting factors, which are essential to effective dose calculations, carry a high level of uncertainty, even though on error estimates are stated. Therefore, a methodology for risk estimation that avoided tissue weighting factors might not be as inferior as one would think.
Radiation dosimetry in nuclear medicine examinations is not overlooked, with a good explanation of the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) system. One chapter also presents information on doses to critical groups who come into contact with patients following diagnostic, or more importantly therapeutic, applications of radionuclides. This is useful especially in view of the new concept of comforters and carers in the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 and the relaxed limit of 5 mSv in any period of five consecutive calendar years for any person (other than a comforter or carer) exposed to ionizing radiation resulting from the medical exposure of another.
Other chapters that complete this generally comprehensive review cover characteristics of radiation detectors in diagnostic radiology, quality assurance and compliance testing of X-ray equipment and somatic effects of radiation.
It is unlikely that anyone with ready access to "Applied Radiation and Isotopes" would buy this book, but for others who wish to have ready access to a state of the art review of the position in circa 1996–97, this would be a useful reference book.
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