# Assessment of Diagnostic Radiology Facilities Technical Radiation Protection Requirements in KSA
### Recommendations in the Design of a Diagnostic Radiology Room  
To lower the exposure to workers, the design of the X-ray room should be optimized from the viewpoint of radiation safety, and protection. One of the important parameters in the design of an X-ray room is the shielding tools inside the room. Many factors affect the design of the X-ray room and its radiation shielding which depends on: the directions of the primary beam generated from the X-ray tube; the level of secondary radiation and leakage radiation; the type of the diagnostic examination and the workload of the facility; and the occupancy factor. Based on UK National Health Service recommendations, the British Institute of Radiology (BIR), and KSA-FSDA regulation for the suggested dimension of the X-ray room to be 33, 50, and 15 m\({}^{2}\) for conventional, interventional, and mammography facilities respectively [9; 10; 11; 12]. For conventional X-ray rooms, the ceiling-mounted tubes should have a minimum height of 3.1 m between the floor level and the underside of the ceiling support grid. A conventional ceiling height of 2.4 m was sufficient for a dental room. For general X-ray rooms, the approximate lead for the door is mainly 2 mm at 150 kV. However, doors of approximately 3-4 mm lead at 150 kV are recommended for multiple slice CT and angiography X-ray machines [3; 10; 13; 14]. The following points should be considered during the structural shielding parameters of the X-ray room; for a new diagnostic radiology facility, the shielding design requirements for the X-ray room should be approved by the KSA-SFDA for the safety of the environment from radiation risk. The shielding requirements are less for the mammography room due to its lower energy. Most interventional and cardiology rooms use ceiling-suspended X-ray equipment such as C-arm configuration. The recommended size for that type of room ranges from 38 to 50 m\({}^{2}\). The shielding requirements in interventional rooms may exceed 2.24 mm lead due to the high scattering radiation arising from the long fluoroscopy times and also high doses to the patient. The expected scattered radiation is high in the CT scan room, therefore, increasing the degree of shielding is recommended in this case. About 3-4 mm lead shield is sufficient for that reason [13; 15]. A specific area of 12 m\({}^{2}\) is sufficient in the design of the room for the dental panoramic/Orthopantomography unit (OPG) [4; 13; 16]. The operator's console area should be near the entrance door of the staff; the variation in the room size will be largely dependent on the space, cost, and modality. The operator should have the ability to observe the patient during the exposure procedure. Personal protective equipment such as lead aprons, thyroid shields, gonad shields, and lead aprons hangers should be in the controlled area. The signs concerning the expectation of women in pregnancy before carrying out the diagnostic examinations should be notified and hung in a clear area. Radiation warning lights should illuminate as an alarm sign in the first preparation step and the second step during the actual exposure of the patient. The existence of worded radiation warning signs must be posted on access doors to the X-ray room; finally, the verification of sufficient interlocks, which fit the safety and security condition and their function work correctly, was recommended [3; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18].