Radiation exposure by digital radiographic imaging in very low birth weight infants

The aim of this study was to determine the cumulative effective doses (CED) from digital radiographic imaging in very low birth weight infants treated in a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The CED for each infant was retrospectively calculated using a voxel-based model. The results were compared with previous studies applying conventional radiography. Two hundred and six preterm infants were included into this study. Neonates received a median of four radiographs (range: 1–68) and a CED of 50 µSv (4–883 µSv). Overall mean CED was lower than in previously published data applying conventional radiography. Factors contributing to a lower radiation dose per infant in our study were a lower number of radiographs and smaller field sizes per radiographic image. The number of conducted radiographs per patient and the employed field size had a higher impact on the CED than the applied radiographic technology.