Abstract:
Patients in the neonatal intensive care unit receive numerous radiographic examinations for both
diagnostic and follow up purposes such as pneumonias, respiratory distress syndrome, meconium
aspirate, and cardiac anomalies, to name a few. There is concern with radiation-induced cancer
development especially in pediatric patients due to smaller size, higher rate of mitotic cell
division, and longer life expectancy. Although radiation dose from a single x-ray radiograph is
low, we need to consider the effects of cumulative examinations. Organ doses cmmot be
measured directly in patients, but can be estimated using computer simulations or laboratory
measurements. One commonly used computational method is the PCXMC 2.0 software, which
uses Monte Cm'lo simulations of photon propagation in tissue to calculate an estimated dose. The
doses calculated by this program have been compared with doses measured using physical
phantoms and doses measured on the surface of patients. This research project will compare the
PCXMC 2.0 organ doses with organ doses measured from the ATOM 703-D phantom as well as
organ doses measured from pediatric cadavers, a method yet to be found in the literature. The
student will use thennoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) to measure the organ doses. The
objectives for the student would be to learn radiological physics as well as experimental
techniques, have clinical exposure, pmticipate in an interdisciplinary team, learn to use the
software progran1 PCXMC 2.0, TLDs, and x-ray machines to calculate and measure doses, and
to recognize and appreciate patient safety in the field of pediatric radiology.
