A novel cassette holder for head and cervical spine radiography

Abstract

Cassette holders are useful equipment assisting in diagnostic radiography of various body parts for suitable radiograms and reduction of unnecessary dose for the people in the working area. In our country, the

cassette holders are expensive and mainly imported Therefore, some diagnostic unit order to make them from metal or other materials. The made to order cassette holders types and quality depends on the quality and skill of both producer and designer. The main purposes of this research are designing and producing the cassette holder from poly - acrylic sheet of 6 mm. thickness which is suitable because of its strength and low x-ray attenuation for head and cervical spine radiography. The design of the cassette holder was adjusted for holding the 10x12 inch or 25.4x30.5 cm. cassette with 2 cm. space to be used for left and right lateral radiation by inverting the cassette. The cassette holder can also be used for AP, PA and supine techniques. The test radiogram of acrylic sheet with aluminum step wedge and head exposure technique using head unit tissue equivalent phantom showed no significant different on the radiograms. Satisfaction of users was studied and showed good to excellent level amongst the technicians and radiological technologists. These results indicated that our design and simple technique to create a novel cassette holder for head and cervical spine radiography. It was worker friendly in any diagnostic radiology unit and feasible to order for production from every plastic work supplier. Bull Chiang Mai Assoc Med Sci 2008; 41: 175-186.