Cheap, Handheld X-Ray Machines Bought Online are Dangerous, Says MHRA

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in Britain has sent a warning to NHS and private dentists, saying that the use of cheap handheld X-Ray machines bought from online stores could expose patients and physicians to more than 10 times the normal level of radiation.

The Chinese made device costs less than £300 compared to approved dental X-ray equipment that cost between £3,000 and £5,000. MHRA seized around 13 devices from a distribution center after it was found that the devices contained insufficient amount of lead lining to prevent the risk of excessive radiation to both patients and doctors while the X-ray beam too is wide.

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“Over time someone operating this machine, such as a dental assistant, would be exposed to unacceptable levels of accumulated radiation and this would have an increased risk to their health. I certainly wouldn't want someone to use this piece of equipment to take an X-ray of me”, King’s College Hospital’s clinical evaluator Donald Emerton, who tested the device, said.

Source-Medindia

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