Radiation Safety and Protection in Diagnostic Imaging: A Comprehensive Review

Radiation Safety and Protection in Diagnostic Imaging gives the radiologic technologist a current working understanding of radiation protection within the imaging department. The course covers the decisions that determine patient dose, the limits and monitoring that govern occupational exposure, the biology behind those limits, and the barriers that separate a source from the people nearby. Topics include justification, technique optimization and the fifteen percent rule, filtration, collimation, grid selection, projection selection and organ dose, dose creep, exposure indicators and deviation index values, automatic exposure control failure modes, and positioning strategies for geriatric patients, patients with special needs, and patients unable to cooperate.

Approvals & Acceptance

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  ASRT Approved, Category A

  Accepted by the ARRT^® toward your CE requirement
• ✓
  ARDMS Accepted

  Counts for ARDMS credential holders
• ✓
  NMTCB Accepted

  Counts for NMTCB credential holders
• ✓
  California

  Accepted for CRTs, XTs, Supervisors and Operators
• ✓
  Florida

  Approved for Technical Category A for Florida technologists
• ✓
  Texas: Directly Related

  Counts toward the directly related hours Texas MRTs need (at least 12 of 24)
• ✓
  We Report for You: Florida, Texas, Kansas and New Hampshire

  Completions are reported in the first week of each month for the previous month: Florida directly to the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control; Texas, Kansas and New Hampshire to CE Broker. Your state license number must be entered in your dashboard for us to report your credits.
• ✓
  All other states

  Accepted

Applicable Disciplines

Learning Objectives

• 1Apply the principles of justification and optimization, including the fifteen percent rule, to reduce patient dose without compromising diagnostic image quality
• 2Select filtration, collimation, grids, and projections that minimize dose to radiosensitive organs
• 3Interpret exposure indicator and deviation index values, and recognize dose creep and automatic exposure control failure modes
• 4Describe occupational dose limits, dosimetry placement, and the radiobiology underlying those limits
• 5Evaluate protective apparel and structural shielding, and adapt positioning strategies for geriatric patients, patients with special needs, and patients unable to cooperate

Course Outline

• •Principles of Radiation Protection: Justification, Optimization, and Dose Limits
• •Technique Optimization and the Fifteen Percent Rule
• •Filtration, Collimation, and Grid Selection
• •Projection Selection and Organ Dose
• •Exposure Indicators, Deviation Index, and Dose Creep
• •Automatic Exposure Control and Its Failure Modes
• •Positioning the Geriatric Patient, the Patient with Special Needs, and the Patient Unable to Cooperate
• •Occupational Exposure: Time, Distance, and Shielding
• •Dose Limits, Dosimetry, and the Declared Pregnant Worker
• •Radiation Biology: Direct and Indirect Action, Cellular Radiosensitivity
• •Deterministic and Stochastic Effects
• •Protective Apparel: Selection, Inspection, and Care
• •Structural Shielding: Primary and Secondary Barriers