Contact the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Research Facility (MSKBRF) on mskbrf@cardiff.ac.uk or telephone +44 (0) 2920 876 436.

Costs: £355.04 per hour including operator.

• The system has dedicated technical support for its use and set up.
• Depending on the research question and activities investigated data collection can take between 1 and 3 hours. 
• Prior discussions with relevant technical staff and director need to occur before studies can have the go ahead as the process to setup a study is lengthy and will vary depending on the study.

In normal operation the x-ray tube is aligned with the detector with the subject under investigation positioned between tube and detector. Access to the primary beam is possible within the frame and if the tube and detector is misaligned. The primary beam can impinge on the side walls of the facility if misaligned. The x-ray tubes are secured to a frame with the primary beam directed horizontally to the detector (or toward the primary shield wall where the primary beam is not intentionally intercepted by the detector). Scattered radiation is emitted around the frame and impinges on all interior surfaces of the room. In conventional use the only x-ray hazard is from secondary radiation (tube leakage and scatter). Doses to the lens of the eye are assumed to be equivalent to that of the body. For participants strict dose limits are defined and kept below as stated in ethical approval application. Exposure to ionising radiation can damage DNA and can cause health effects, such as cancer, later in life. The risks are small for low levels of exposure but exposure to high levels of ionising and non-ionising radiations can cause acute effects such as burns, tissue and organ damage. The lifetime risk of cancer is 50% (all ages). Additional overall occupational cancer risk rises by 0.004% per mSv. Using a 4.2E-05mSv-1 dose risk factor from ICRP103 for an annual dose of 0.3mSv, the combined detriment from stochastic effects is; 0.3*4.2E-05mSv-1 = 1.3E-05 giving an additional risk of 0.0013% (roughly a 1 in 100000 chance).

Risk values as boundaries for tolerability of risk published by the HSE are shown below (The tolerability of risk from nuclear power stations, HMSO 1992);
* Maximum tolerable worker risk factor: 1 in 1000 (0.1%).
* Maximum tolerable public risk factor: 1 in 10000 (0.01%).

Ionising radiation dose to volunteers is protocol dependent and will have to be calculated as part of an Ethics application.

All staff using the facility have to follow Ionising Radiaiton Regulaions 2017 and the local rules and procedure defined by the Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS). All ionising exposures on volunteers have to follow the rules and procedures set out in the IR(ME)R employers document as required by IR(ME)R 2018 legislation. Before entry is permitted to the X-Ray facility users will require sign off and training by RPS unless an approved operator is present. Prior to X-Rays being fired the local rules have to be read and signed by everyone involved in the research study. All dose recieved by volunteers is recorded and stored. Ethics have to be signed off by the RPS and NHS IRAS procedure before project can go ahead.