Comparison of the fiber optic dosimeter and semiconductor dosimeter for use in diagnostic radiology

A fiber-optic dosimeter (FOD) was fabricated using a plstic scintillating fiber, a plastic optical fiber, and a multi-pixel photon counter to measure entrance surface dose (ESD) in diagnostic radiology. Under changing tube current and irradition time of the digital radiography (DR) system, we measured the scintillating light and the ESD simultaneously. As experiemtnal results, the total counts of the FOD were changed in a manner similar to the ESDs of the semiconductor dosimeter (SCD). In conclusion, we demonstrated that the proposed FOD minimally affected the diagnostic information of DR image while the SCD caused serious image artifacts.