Ace the 2025 Patient Safety Challenge – Minimize Radiation, Maximize Care!

The instrument that is most commonly used to monitor a patient's radiation dose is the thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD). TLDs function by absorbing energy from ionizing radiation, which is stored as excited states in the material. When the TLD is heated after exposure, it releases this stored energy in the form of light. The amount of light emitted is proportional to the amount of radiation the dosimeter has been exposed to, allowing for accurate measurement of the patient’s radiation dose.

In clinical settings, TLDs are particularly advantageous because they can provide precise measurements of radiation exposure and can be reused after being reset through heating. This makes them useful for providing reliable dose assessments over time.

Other instruments may serve different functions: a Geiger counter is typically used for detecting and measuring radiation levels in the environment, a film badge is used primarily for monitoring personnel exposure to radiation rather than direct patient dose, and an ionization chamber is generally used to measure radiation in a laboratory or for calibrating other devices rather than specifically monitoring a patient's dose.