Abstract

Ibrahim Sadak1 , Yıldız Mustafa2 and Talabani Ghaffoori2

Rate of radiation leakage from the CT-Scan rooms was measured for 10 public hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan, using radiation survey dosimeter. Annual exposure dose was considered as a main factor to asses risks of that leakage on the health of operators and auditors. Average leakage dose was measured at the control room, table of operators, the main doors, and waiting hall. Average time of exposure for the years of 2009, 2010, and 2011 were evaluated through the data of the statistics unit in each hospital. Knowledge of recent trends in the radiation dose from CT examinations and their distribution for the Iraqi Kurdistan hospitals provides useful guidance on where best to concentrate efforts on patient and operator dose reduction in order to optimize the protection of the patients and operators in a cost-effective manner. The results show that the range of exposed dose by the operators and auditors depended on the rate of leakage dose and the time of exposure. The largest and smallest amount of annual radiation dose received by the operators was in the Hawler Teaching Hospital (51.55±67.189 µSv) in Erbil, and Shahid Aso Hospital (0.222±0.061 µSv) in Sulaimaniyya, respectively. On the other hand, the largest and smallest amount of annual radiation dose received by the auditors was in the Azady Hospital (469.884±283.1 µSv) in Duhok, and Shorish Hospital (0.324±0.18 µSv) in Sulaimaniyya, respectively. Hence, the much increased contributions of CT procedures to the Kurdistan region population dose indicate an urgent need to develop radiation protection and optimization activities for these high dose procedures to the low and accepted levels.