Solid‐state dosimeters have rendered ionization chambers obsolete for routine diagnostic X‐ray quality control

Source: PubMed Central Open Access, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine

ABSTRACT Today's diagnostic medical physicist finds a broad variety of instruments available to make the numerous quality control (QC) measurements needed for routine equipment evaluations. One of the distinguishing features of different options is the availability of multi‐purpose solid‐state detectors (SSD) and application‐specific ion chambers (IC) that can be used for measurements of the various modality equipment types. Since these measurements are the “bread and butter” of diagnostic physics work and the foundation of quality and safety for patients, the choice will have profound implications for many aspects of the physicist's work. In this debate, we explore the roles of SSD and IC instruments through the insights and perspectives of two highly experienced and accomplished diagnostic medical physicists.