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In Regards To ONLY My CT Scan , Since It

Posted on Fri, 29 Mar 2019

Question: In regards to ONLY my CT scan , since it was my head being scanned was the radiation from the CT scan localized to the head region only ?

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
The primary radiation is directed to the head area

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for writing in to us.

When the head is scanned, the primary xrays are emitted by the source from one end of the gantry and detected by detectors in the gantry. In this way the radiation is directed to the head when doing a head scan. There is something called field of vision and dose optimisation and these are machine presents to get the best image with the lowest dose possible.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Vivek Chail (47 minutes later)

Is the secondary radiation harmful at all? Also is 907 mgy a high dose?

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (39 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Secondary radiation is minimally harmful.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for writing in.

Sorry for the delay in reply.

Secondary radiation is minimally harmful.

The SI unit for radiation absorption is mSv. Somehow I feel the dose of 907mGy needs to be multiplied by another factor to get the correct dose in mSv.

So 907 mGy should not be considered in isolation.

Radiation units and conversions are technical and so for purpose of radiation safety we use mSv as a standard unit.

Regards,

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar