: Computed tomography (CT) technology has changed considerably in recent years with the introduction of increasing numbers of multiple detector arrays. There are several parameters specific to multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scanners that increase or decrease patient dose systematically compared to older single detector computed tomography (SDCT) scanners. This document briefly reviews the MDCT technology, radiation dose in MDCT, including differences from SDCT and factors that affect dose, radiation risks, and the responsibilities for patient dose management. The document recommends that users need to understand the relationship between patient dose and image quality and be aware that image quality in CT is often higher than that necessary for diagnostic confidence. Automatic exposure control (AEC) does not totally free the operator from selection of scan parameters, and awareness of individual systems is important. Scanning protocols cannot simply be transferred between scanners from different manufacturers and should be determined for each MDCT. If the image quality is appropriately specified by the user, and suited to the clinical task, there will be a reduction in patient dose for most patients. Understanding of some parameters is not intuitive and the selection of image quality parameter values in AEC systems is not straightforward. Examples of some clinical situation shave been included to demonstrate dose management, e.g. CT examinations of the chest, the heart for coronary calcium quantification and non-invasive coronary angiography, colonography, the urinary tract, children, pregnant patients, trauma cases, and CT guided interventions. CT is increasingly being used to replace conventional x-ray studies and it is important that patient dose is given careful consideration, particularly with repeated or multiple examinations.
BACKGROUND. Prior cost-effectiveness models analyzing computed tomography colonography (CTC) screening have assumed that patients with diminutive lesions (� 5 mm) will be referred to optical colonoscopy (OC) for polypectomy. However, consensus guidelines for CTC recommend reporting only polyps measuring � 6 mm. The purpose of the current study was to assess the potential harms, benefits, and cost-effectiveness of CTC screening without the reporting of diminutive lesions compared with other scree...
Screening is an emotive issue. But with around one in three people being diagnosed with cancer at some stage during their lifetime and approximately one in four dying from cancer, it is not surprising that the public has become alarmed. Screening the healthy population for cancer seems such an obvious solution and most Western countries now offer some form of screening for breast cancer. Colon cancer is another prevalent killer: if polyps can be detected at an early stage and cancer prevented th...
Abstract Objectives: To evaluate the impact of early abdominopelvic computed tomography in patients with acute abdominal pain of unknown cause on length of hospital stay and accuracy of diagnosis. Design: Randomised, prospective controlled trial. Setting: Teaching hospital in England. Participants: 120 patients admitted with acute abdominal pain for which no immediate surgical intervention or computed tomography was indicated. Intervention: 55 participants were prospectively randomised to early ...
Legislation about the use of ionising radiation within Europe is being more strictly defined. Since the introduction of the Euratom Directive, each member state is obliged to check that the Directive is being implemented and that referrals are appropriate. Against this background there is also increasing concern about the relatively high radiation dose associated with CT. This article explores these issues and considers one practical example, namely the investigation of appendicitis.
This study aims to review chest computed tomography (CT) scanning parameters which are utilized to evaluate patients for COVID-19-induced pneumonia. Also, some of radiation dose reduction techniques in CT would be mentioned, because using these techniques or low-dose protocol can decrease the radiation burden on the population. Chest CT scan can play a key diagnostic role in COVID-19 patients. Additionally, it can be useful to monitor imaging changes during treatment. However, CT scan overuse du...
#1Wu Men(Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)H-Index: 1
#2Fenfen Wang(Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)H-Index: 1
Last. Zhi Zeng(THU: Tsinghua University)H-Index: 15
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Abstract null null The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident (FDNPPA) derived 134Cs, 137Cs and 110mAg in blue sharks captured in the Northwest Pacific during 2011–2018 were assessed for the first time in the aspects of radioactive contamination, temporal variation, maternal-to-fetus transfer, tissue distribution and radiation dose, to demonstrate the impacts of the FDNPPA on blue sharks. The contribution of the FDNPPA derived radiocesium in blue sharks (>52%) was estimated based on 134...
Reports indicated that numerous factors, including inadequate personnel knowledge, contributes to insufficient patient data for setting up diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in developing countries. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of DRLs as an optimisation tool amongst computed tomography (CT) radiographers in northern Nigeria. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was devised and distributed on site to sixty-two CT radiographers in northern Nigeria....
Last. D.A. Bradley(University of Surrey)H-Index: 39
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Abstract null null The purpose the current work were to assess the radiation exposure given to patients during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), pacemaker (PM) and coronary angiography (CA), procedures. In total, 419 procedures were carried out in 4 specialized hospitals. Calibrated Kerma area product meters were used to quantify the patient doses. Effective dose was extrapolated using the national radiological protection board (NRPB) software program. The mean KAP (Gy.cm2) per procedur...
Abstract null null In this study an improvised nuclear device (IND) is simulated using a software called HotSpot. The explosion took place in a theoretical central business district (CBD), for the major issue addressed in this paper is the comparison of two methods used for estimating the size of the potentially affected population. The first method estimates the size by multiplying the local average demographic density by the area of the zone of interest. The second method uses the population d...
#1Eliseo Vano(Complutense University of Madrid)H-Index: 58
There are many aspects of radiological protection in medicine that are different than in other areas of activity using ionising radiations. In this paper, we present and justify some of these differences and highlight the reasons and benefits of this consideration for the medical field. It is important to understand the differences as we are all likely to be patients at some point in our lives and be exposed to ionising radiation for imaging procedures several times and, in some cases, for thera...
Cardiac and liver computed tomography (CT) perfusion has not been routinely implemented in the clinic and requires high radiation doses. The purpose of this study is to examine the radiation exposure and technical settings for cardiac and liver CT perfusion scans at different CT scanners. Two cardiac and three liver CT perfusion protocols were examined with the N1 LUNGMAN phantom at three multi-slice CT scanners: a single-source (I) and second- (II) and third-generation (III) dual-source CT scan...
Although many interventions involving radiation exposure have been replaced to endoscopic procedure in the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary fields, there remains no alternative for enteroscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which requires the use of radiation. In this review, we discuss the radiation doses and protective measures of endoscopic procedures, especially for ERCP. For the patient radiation dose, the average dose area product for diagnostic ERCP was 14-26...
Hospital workers at the Oncology Department are occupationally exposed to antineoplastic drugs (ANTNP) or low doses of ionizing radiation (Irrad). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the level of DNA damage, the oxidative stress parameters and complete blood count (CBC) of hospital workers in order to analyze the negative health effects of ANTNP and low dose Irrad. The frequency of micronuclei (MN) and proliferation index (PI) were analyzed by cytokinesis-block test. The oxidative s...