Reduction of breast dose in abdominal CT examinations: Effectiveness of automatic exposure control system

We evaluated the effectiveness of the automatic exposure control (AEC) system for reducing the radiation dose to the breasts in abdominal computed tomography (CT). Acquisitions from the upper abdomen of an anthropomorphic phantom were acquired using multiple parameter combinations after placing radi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiation measurements 2011-12, Vol.46 (12), p.2056-2059
Main Authors: Matsubara, Kosuke, Koshida, Kichiro, Noto, Kimiya, Takata, Tadanori
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquisitions
Automatic exposure control
Breast
Breast dose
Computed tomography
Control systems
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Geochronology
Isotope geochemistry. Geochronology
Marketing
Modulation
Noise
Radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeter
Reduction
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Summary:We evaluated the effectiveness of the automatic exposure control (AEC) system for reducing the radiation dose to the breasts in abdominal computed tomography (CT). Acquisitions from the upper abdomen of an anthropomorphic phantom were acquired using multiple parameter combinations after placing radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeters at the breasts and abdominal regions to measure the breasts and abdominal radiation dose for each parameter combination. In addition, the level of image noise was evaluated using the images obtained from the anthropomorphic phantom for each parameter combination. When identical beam width and pitch factor were selected, the breast dose tended to be low using z-axis modulation compared with fixed mA acquisition, and it also tended to be low using xyz-axis modulation compared with using z-axis modulation. The level of image noise in general was almost equal to the level that was preset when the AEC system was applied, but the level of image noise at the liver region under the right diaphragm tended to be low. Thus, the AEC system is effective for the reduction of the radiation dose to the breasts while maintaining appropriate image quality in abdominal CT examinations. ► We evaluated the system for reducing breast dose in abdominal CT. ► It is low using z-axis modulation compared with fixed mA acquisition. ► It is low using xyz-axis modulation compared with z-axis modulation. ► The level of image noise is adequate when the system is applied. ► The system is effective for the reduction of breast dose in abdominal CT.
ISSN:1350-4487
1879-0925
DOI:10.1016/j.radmeas.2011.07.018