Optimizing Radiation Exposure in Medical Imaging: Importance of Technical Factors and the mAs2 Formula

Which of the following groups of technical factors will deliver the greatest amount of exposure to the patient(A) 20 mAs, 100 kV(B) 40 mAs, 90 kV(C) 80 mAs, 80 kV(D) 160 mAs, 70 kV

D

The amount of exposure to the patient is determined by the technical factors used during the imaging process. The most important factors that determine the exposure to the patient are milliamperes-seconds (mAs) and kilovoltage (kV).

The formula for determining exposure is mAs x kV, which is known as the milliampere-seconds-squared (mAs2) formula. Therefore, the group of technical factors that will deliver the greatest amount of exposure to the patient will be the one with the highest mAs and kV values.

Using the given options:

(A) 20 mAs, 100 kV = 2000
(B) 40 mAs, 90 kV = 3600
(C) 80 mAs, 80 kV = 6400
(D) 160 mAs, 70 kV = 11200

From the calculations, (D) 160 mAs, 70 kV will deliver the greatest amount of exposure to the patient. However, it is essential to note that excessively high radiation doses can cause harmful effects to the patient’s health. Therefore, it is essential to use the optimal technical factors depending on the specific imaging needs while limiting the radiation exposure as much as possible.

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