Model Estimating Radiation Skin Doses During CT-Guided Interventions Developed

A new model that would allow interventional radiologists (those who specialize in fine needle aspiration, fine needle biopsy, and radiofrequency ablation) to better estimate patient radiation skin doses during computed tomography- (CT)-guided interventional procedures has been developed, according to a new study.

"It is clear that skin doses in CT-guided interventional procedures can become very high. Even for skin doses around 1 Gy, the prospect of repeating a procedure makes the determination of peak skin dose crucial for avoiding radiation injuries,” said Ioannis A. Tsalafoutas, Ph.D., from Agios Savvas and Konstantopoulio Hospitals (Athens, Greece) and his coauthors of the study, which was published in the November 2008 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR).

The hypothetical model that was developed considers the skin dose resulting from each CT slice, utilizing data that are already stored along with CT images. The skin doses calculated with this model were compared with those measured using films positioned under patients that underwent CT-guided interventional procedures. The results indicate that peak skin doses can be estimated accurately using the new theoretical model that provides a base for skin dose estimation in real time,” said Dr. Tsalafoutas and colleagues.

According to Dr. Tsalafoutas, it is vital for CT interventional radiologists to be able to monitor the radiation skin dose to their patient and optimize their techniques, to avoid skin injuries and lessen the potential for radiation-induced cancer. The first step toward this goal is to determine the risk, to quantify it, and to identify factors that affect it to be able to reduce it, reported the researchers in their article.

The method developed by Dr. Tsalafoutas and his colleagues could possibly lead to the development of specialized software for skin estimation in real time that "would be a significant technological advancement from the aspect of radiation protection,” reported Dr. Tsalafoutas and colleagues.

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