Abstract
In this work, an open beam-limiting device, consisting of a rectangular collimator to be coupled to an intraoral dental X-ray device, was made using recycled lead sheets as a radiation-absorbing element. The collimator was designed for 3D printing, and using Spektr 3.0 software, the number of lead sheets needed to absorb excess radiation was calculated. The rectangular collimator reduced the radiation dose to patients by 65% when using four layers of recycled lead sheets (saturating with a 70% reduction in radiation dose at the limit of eight or more sheets of lead). The rectangular collimator does not negatively impact the quality of the radiological image, is available as an open design for 3D printing, and can be built with materials that are easily accessible to the dentist, facilitating its use in clinical practice and reducing the patient’s exposure to ionizing radiation.
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Acknowledgements
The support from the Brazilian Government Agency Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)—grant 305528/2018-1 is gratefully acknowledged. This study was also financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. Thanks are due to Luiza F. Lima for X-ray fluorescence analysis of the lead sheets, and the Manufacturing Laboratory of Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul—Caxias do Sul, where the collimator parts were 3D printed.
Funding
This study was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)—Grant 305528/2018-1, and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)-Finance Code 001.
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MCP: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, writing—original draft preparation. ET: conceptualization, investigation, writing—original draft preparation, writing (review and editing). TOG: data curation, investigation, writing (review and editing). JEZ: conceptualization, methodology, data curation, writing (review and editing). CAP: conceptualization, methodology, data curation, writing—original draft preparation, writing (review and editing). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Poletto, M.C., Thomazi, E., Zorzi, J.E. et al. Development of an open project rectangular collimator for use with intraoral dental X-ray unit. Radiol Phys Technol 17, 315–321 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-023-00772-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-023-00772-9