Collimation And Radiation Safety: A Comparative Study Of Digital And Analogue Lumbar Spine Imaging

Abstract

In medical imaging, proper collimation is essential to minimize patient radiation exposure while ensuring diagnostic quality. With the introduction of digital radiography, concerns have arisen that collimation practices may have deteriorated due to the flexibility of digital imaging systems, which can mask excessive collimation. This study aimed to investigate whether collimation practices in lumbar spine frontal radiographs have changed since the adoption of digital radiography. A total of 150 radiographs were included in the study, with 75 images from each of two hospitals. Collimation was assessed by measuring the proportion of the irradiated field outside the area of diagnostic interest (ADI) for both digital and analogue samples. The results revealed that digital samples exhibited significantly larger irradiated areas, with 60.5% of the irradiated field outside the ADI compared to 42% in analogue samples. The mean irradiated field size was also larger in digital samples (791 cm²) compared to analogue samples (541 cm²). The study found no significant effect of patient age on the irradiated area outside the ADI, indicating that the observed differences were primarily due to the shift from analogue to digital technology. These findings suggest that digital radiography may inadvertently lead to reduced attention to collimation, thereby increasing patient radiation exposure. Radiography departments should prioritize the enforcement of proper collimation practices despite the flexibility provided by digital imaging systems. Further research is needed to assess the long-term impact of these changes on patient safety and image quality