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All CT scans are forms of X-ray that use small doses of radiation. Depending on where you live,
you will experience low levels of radiation from your environment and lifestyle every day. This
is measured in Millisieverts or mSv. In most parts of the UK, the average background radiation
is 2.5mSv, with figures ranging to 9 mSv in Devon and Cornwall.
- The Saga MultiScan has a total dose of approximately 10 mSv (about three times the natural
radiation we are exposed to during a year).
- A Saga Combination Scan with Virtual Colonoscopy has a total dose of approximately 10 mSv.
- A Virtual Colonoscopy is approximately 3.5 mSv (about the same as a year's natural exposure),
which is close to half the dose of a traditional Barium Enema.
- A Heart Scan is 1.3 mSv, which is the same as a lumbar spine X-ray series (or the
equivalent of less than six months of average UK background radiation).
The x-ray dose used in a CT Scan is carefully calculated by the Radiographer conducting your
assessment and kept to the minimum.
Radiographers (who are responsible for taking X-rays or scans)
and Radiologists (specialist doctors who review the images for diagnosis) work with radiation
all the time. The maximum occupational dose is 50 mSv in any one year.
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