Patient doses in radiography are usually calculated as the:

In radiography, patient doses are typically calculated as the absorbed dose, which is measured in grays (Gy). The absorbed dose quantifies the amount of energy deposited by ionizing radiation in a given mass of tissue. This measurement is crucial because it directly relates to the biological effect that radiation can have on living tissue.

When understanding patient dose, it's important to differentiate it from other dose metrics. The total dose refers to the cumulative radiation delivered over time, while effective dose takes into account the varying sensitivities of different tissues and organs to radiation. Although these measures are relevant in assessing overall radiation exposure and risk, they do not specifically indicate the dose absorbed by a particular body part during an x-ray procedure.

The radiation dose measured in rads (now often replaced by gray in SI units) similarly reflects energy deposition in tissue but is an older unit of measure.

In summary, the absorbed dose provides the most direct representation of the radiation exposure a patient receives in radiography, making it the appropriate choice when discussing patient doses.