Radiology Tech Practice Test

This is the normal range for creatinine. Increasing your physical activities will help your creatinine levels.  Low creatinine is dangerous and harmful. Muscle and liver disease can lead to lower creatinine levels. Elevated levels can lead to more harmful effects. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and high blood pressure. Higher creatinine symptoms include kidney failure and dehydrations.

Creatinine is a breakdown product of muscle metabolism. It is an important factor in monitoring kidney function, and higher than normal creatinine levels could indicate reduced kidney function. A patient with high serum creatinine could experience renal failure as a result of administering iodinated contrast media. The WBC is a measure of the number of white blood cells in the patient's blood. While crucial in fighting infection, this value is not indicative of appropriate kidney function. Hemoglobin is a measure of the iron-containing protein in the blood that is responsible for oxygen transport. While crucial for proper physiologic function in the body, it is not related to kidney function and therefore is not a crucial value for IV contrast administration. AFT is one of many measures of liver function, not kidney function.

One of the primary functions of the housing is to minimize radiation leakage. The x-ray tube is lined with lead and helps minimize leakage.

Glass tube envelopes are made of borosilicate glass. This helps with the heat inside the tube. The housing does not retain the heat from the glass tube. The housing around the x-ray tube is there for electrical shock protection. The housing around the x-ray tube has nothing to do with image production.

A barium enema is an x-ray exam of the large intestine to detect any changes or abnormalities. After the exam, it is recommended to drink fluids for the next 6 hours. This will help move the barium through the bowels.

Patients should use laxatives to help relieve the pressure in the bowels. It is very important to monitor bowel movements. Bowel movements may be light in color for up to 72 hours after a procedure and should be checked for bleeding.

Bremsstrahlung radiation is also called "braking" radiation and results from an incident cathode electron decelerating and changing direction as it passes by the nucleus of a target atom. Characteristic radiation is a target interaction caused by the removal of an inner shell electron from the target. Compton scattering is an interaction with matter, not the target, and produces scattered radiation. Coherent scattering is an interaction with matter that does not cause ionization. It is a photon interaction with matter, not a target interaction.

Proper use of AEC will ensure that the appropriate mAs is being used for the body part, helping to control patient dose. Decreasing kVp will increase photoelectric absorption of radiation, which contributes to patient dose. Increasing mAs will produce more photons in the primary beam, which will exponentially increase patient dose. While beneficial for image quality, radiographic grids require the use of more mAs to compensate for the grid, thereby increasing patient dose.

The NCRP requires that lead aprons have a minimum of 0.50 mm Pb.

Lead gloves have to be 0.25 mm Pb. The thyroid shield and bucky slot cover have the same requirements. A 0.35 requirement is for lead glasses. These tend to be used in long fluoroscopy cases. There is nothing that requires a minimum of 0.75 mm Pb.

A Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) will schedule briefings and educational sessions to inform workers of ALARA programs and this should be done annually.

An RSO reviews radiation levels quarterly. A radiation safety program is reviewed annually. It is an RSO's responsibility to review radiation levels in unrestricted and restricted areas to determine that they were at ALARA levels.

Dry fiberglass casts are radiolucent, meaning they do not absorb or attenuate the X-ray beam. Therefore, no change in technical factors are required in this scenario. kVp should be set in accordance with the body part being radiographed to provide the appropriate scale of contrast. The presence of a dry fiberglass cast should not impact the selection of appropriate kVp for the exam. Increasing mAs is not necessary for patients with a dry fiberglass cast. Since the fiberglass material does not attenuate/absorb photons, no increase in mAs is necessary. Radiographic grids improve contrast by removing scatter radiation before it interacts with the IR. Dry fiberglass casts do not produce scattered radiation, so the use of radiographic grids should be dictated by the size of the part being imaged, not the presence of a cast.

Very low mA values between 0.5 - 5 mA are used for fluoroscopy due to the greatly increased exposure time compared to conventional radiography. The use of low mA values helps reduce patient radiation exposure as much as possible, since the X-ray tube is continuously energized during fluoroscopy procedures. Options B, C, and D are too high for fluoroscopy. Combined with the increased exposure time caused by the X-ray tube being continuously energized, this mA value range would result in excessive patient dose.

In 1896, Thomas Edison invented fluoroscopy. His discovery of calcium tungstate screens were effective for turning x-rays to visible light.

Wilhelm Rontgen produced the first x-ray on November 8, 1895. This later earned him a Nobel Prize in 1901. The x-ray went public in 1920. Law enforcement started using it to inspect packages and luggage. Coolidge tubes were invented in 1913. These tubes enabled continuous x-ray emissions.

The correct way to view a radiograph is for the patient to be facing you. Most radiographs will have a right or left marker.

It is incorrect to view the x-ray with patient away from you. It is universally accepted that when viewing a radiograph, the patient is facing you. There are markers on a radiograph to help make sure you have it facing the correct way. It is incorrect to position the film as if the patient was on their side.

The fallopian tubes are most suitable for an examination three days after a period has ended.

Right before is not a good time because the body is preparing for the menstrual cycle. The contrast used to evaluate the fallopian tubes will be filled with blood and will not give accurate results. During a period is not recommended because the blood is flowing out. It is hard to get helpful results if the fallopian tubes cannot be filled correctly.

An abdominal hernia is an opening in the abdominal wall through which abdominal contents can protrude.

A blockage keeping liquids or foods from passing through the small intestine is called a small bowel obstruction. Fluid on the lungs is clinically called pleural effusion and does not tear the diaphragm. Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix, which is located at the junction of the small and large intestines, not near the diaphragm.

The fracture is the 5th Proximal Phalanx. The Proximal Phalanx connects the Metacarpal bone to the Middle Phalanx.

The carpal bones make the wrist. There are a total of eight bones in the wrist. The middle phalanx connects to a proximal and distal phalanx. The metacarpal bones make up the palm of your hand. The fracture is outside the palm.

The RAO position demonstrates the esophagus free of superimposition of the thoracic spine and heart shadow. It provides the best visualization of the esophagus during fluoroscopy. The LAO position is not ideal for demonstrating the esophagus as it results in superimposition over the heart shadow. The PA projection is insufficient for demonstrating the esophagus as it is superimposed on the thoracic spine. The RPO position is equivalent to the LAO position and is not ideal for demonstrating the esophagus as it results in superimposition over the heart shadow.

Internal rotation of the lower extremity demonstrates the greater trochanter and femoral neck in profile. It is important to rotate the patient's entire lower extremity internally if possible, not just the foot and ankle, to ensure appropriate visualization of these structures. The neutral position will result in foreshortening of the femoral neck and superimposition of the greater trochanter on the femoral neck. The patient's lower extremity should only be left in the neutral position if internal rotation is painful or if the patient has a suspected fracture. External rotation will result in foreshortening of the femoral neck and superimposition of the greater trochanter on the femoral neck. It is important to demonstrate the femoral neck in profile on the AP projection of the hip. Hip flexion will result in foreshortening of the femoral neck and proximal femur. The hip is flexed as well as abducted for the Cleaves (frog leg) method, not the AP projection.