THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF CARBON-FIBER CASSETTES IN MOBILE CHEST RADIOGRAPHY

Employment of carbon fibre materials is an effective method of reducin g radiation dose, yet the increased associated costs have led to a rel uctance in implementation. This study investigates the level of dose r eduction achievable, while maintaining image quality, in mobile chest radiography using carbon-fibre cassettes, compared with plastic casset tes, and balances this against increased expense of the cassettes. Dos e measurements using thermoluminescent dosimeters were carried out on intensive therapy unit (ITU) patients undergoing an anteroposterior ch est X-ray examination. Resultant image quality was assessed using obje ctive Commission of European Communities (CEC) criteria. A retrospecti ve audit recorded number of ITU patients currently having chest X-rays to determine total dose savings over the life of the cassettes. The r esults show significant reductions (p < 0.0002) of 32% for entrance su rface and effective dose with carbon-fibre cassettes. No deterioration in total image quality was noted. The added expense of less than or e qual to 2260 per personSievert (calculated from the effective dose red uction) for employing carbon-fibre cassettes is minimal compared with the estimated cost of manSievert exposures reported by other workers.