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An evaluation of the effectiveness of altering the density setting on the image quality and dose received by the patient

chest Sayed Wafa Rostamzada skeletal thoracic x-ray

Diagnostic radiographic images obtained from medical radiation play an important part in modern medicine and have substantially improved healthcare services and patient outcomes over recent years. The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2018 require ionising radiation exposure to the patient to be kept as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). Radiographers are using automatic exposure control (AEC) to determine the optimum amount of radiation exposure to produce a quality image. The purpose of AEC is to deliver a consistent and reproducible exposure across a wide range of anatomical thicknesses and tube potentials reaching the image receptor. The density setting within the AEC device allows the radiographer to control and pre-set the radiation detection values. Depending on the manufacturer, the density controller on the equipment is generally in the form of buttons located on the AEC’s control panel that are numbered from minus five to plus five.

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