Download Accident and Emergency assignment

Shua Darwish Almutawa
200023791
4MI
Term of reference:
This report is written as part of Radiation Science II IMGE250
and Health Communications II ENGL256 courses. This report will
describe the x-ray equipment, which will be used in the accident and
emergency department.
Accident and Emergency equipment:
Traumas patients are send to the accident and emergency
department, which should be deigned for dealing with such cases.
Most patient in the accident and emergency department needs to be xrayed, and they need especial care.
There are some areas that must be considered when choosing xray equipment for the accident and emergency department, such as: 
X-ray tube

Generator

X-ray table

Gantry for the x-ray tube
X-ray tube:
The patient are from accident and emergency department, that
mean the patient is very sick and he may move during the exposure.
To avoid the patient movement during the exposure, the radiographer
should keep the exposure time as low as possible. In this case the xray tube should have a good x-ray quantity. X-ray quantity is the
number of x-rays in the useful beam. There are some factors that
affect the x-ray quantity such as: KVp, mAs and the distance from the
source.
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Shua Darwish Almutawa
200023791
4MI
Focal spot size is another factor that affect the choosing of the xray tube because it affect the exposure time and the image resolution.
For accident and emergency equipment it is better to have both fine
and large focal spot size in the x-ray tube.
Generator
The generator that is used in the x-ray machine should have a
power output that reduces the exposure time. High frequency
generator is the newest development in high voltage generator. The
size of this generator is small which make it easy to placed it in the xray tube housing.
X-ray table
For accident and emergency department it is better to use
floating tabletops because they are easily unlocked and moved by the
radiographers, that means the radiographer is going to move the table
not the patient in order to get the right position and centering point for
the examination. Under the tabletop there is an opening to hold a thin
tray for a cassette and grid.
Gantry
Wide range of movements is needed for the x-ray tube in the
accident and emergency department. Ceiling mounted which allowed
such movement would be used. The gantry should cover all the room
in case that the patient is on trolley and cannot be moved to the x-ray
table.
Digital radiography
Having digital radiography in the accident and emergency
department is useful. Digital radiography produces image which looks
like a conventional x-ray image. The advantage of digital radiography
in accident and emergency department is that the radiographer can
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Shua Darwish Almutawa
200023791
4MI
control the brightness of the image in the computer screen before print
it out, and that will reduce the repeating image due to the brightness.
Computed Tomography (CT)
Computed tomography scanner does not use ordinary film or
image intensifier tube, it use a well-collimated x-ray beam instead of
it. The well-collimated tube is directed on the patient and a detector
measures the attenuated image forming radiation. The detector
response is transmitted to a computer that is going to analyzing the
signal and reconstructs the image and displays it on the monitor.
Having Computed tomography scanner in the accident and
emergency department is important because it produce better image
of the skull and other part of the body, which helps a lot in discover
any abnormality in the patient. Add to that with CT radiography will
not need to repeats the image if it was over expose and the
radiographer can control the contrast on the computer monitor before
printing the image.
Radiation protection and patient safety
Patient’s life is important, the good accident and emergency
department should make sure that patient and stuff are protected
form the radiation as much as possible.
One way of protecting the patient is using lead apron to cover
the reproductive system if possible, because the reproductive system
is sensitive to the radiation and if it was not protected it may cause
abnormality disease in the future generations.
Having lead glass screen will protect the radiographer from the
scatter radiation during the exposing.
Warning light in the door of the x-ray room, which shows that
radiation is used at the moment will help stopping accident exposed to
the radiation. Also locking the door will help in this case.
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Shua Darwish Almutawa
200023791
4MI
Trained nursing and radiographer who are able to deal with any
emergency cases should be in the accident and emergency
department. It is also important to have a first aid kite and
resuscitation drugs such as adrenaline that may be useful in case the
patient need some special care.
Conclusion
To sum up this research report, which give me the chance to
think about how to design an accident and emergency department and
what type of equipment I may use to help keeping the patient safe and
confident. I think such reports are helping me to develop my skills and
give me clear idea about my future career, and it also give me the
chance of knowing how I can over came any problem that I may face
it in my near future.
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