Patient dose, image quality and radiographic techniques for common X ray examinations in two Greek hospitals and comparison with European guidelines.

The radiographic technique factors and the quality of each radiographic image for three common examinations (chest PA, pelvis AP and lumbar spine LAT) were compared with the European criteria and entrance surface dose (ESD) was measured for each radiograph in two Greek hospitals. The measurements were carried out using calibrated LiF thermoluminescence dosemeters. The patients were selected so that their weight was close to 70 +/- 10 kg and their height to 170 +/- 10 cm. Effective dose values were calculated using a PC-based Monte Carlo program. All four X ray rooms in the survey achieved mean doses well below the European reference doses. However the mean doses in the X ray rooms differed by a factor of about 3.