CT System Features Radiation Dose Check Software

New dose check software meets Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance's (MITA) new standard for computed tomography (CT) system dose management and includes additional software enhancements that reinforce the principle of as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) CT imaging.

Helping the medical imaging community in supporting MITA's (Arlington, VA, USA) Radiation Dose Reduction Plan and its CT Dose Check Initiative, Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo, Japan) installed the first Aquilion One CT system featuring Toshiba's Dose Check Software and additional low dose technologies at Winona Health Center (Winona, MN, USA).

In cooperation with the MITA CT Dose Check Initiative's continued commitment to assist further healthcare providers in administering scans that adhere to the ALARA principle, Toshiba's Dose Check Software enhances user awareness of the radiation dose being administered to patients. Now standard on all new Aquilion ONE CT systems, Toshiba's Dose Check software includes Dose Alert and Dose Notification addressing the two main components of MITA's CT Dose Check Initiative, as well as Tracking and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) to additionally enhance patient safety. Details of these features include (1) the Dose Alert feature, which alerts the user if the selected scan settings yield a predicted dose that exceeds an upper threshold dose value. The default settings require that the user edit scan parameters or input their username to confirm the selected scan settings before continuing with the programmed scan. (2) The Dose Notification feature allows the user to set a nominal dose notification value for each part of a protocol being run. The Dose Notification feature will notify a user if the predicted dose value exceeds the nominal dose notification value. (3) A tracking software upgrade adds tracking capabilities allowing clinicians to create a report that can be downloaded from the system for facility quality-assurance programs. The Tracking software will log events related to the Dose Alert and Dose Notification features. (4) The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Integrated Healthcare Environment (IHE) SR software feature allows for the system to be configured to transmit dose related information to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) or workstation as an electronic file compatible with DICOM's IHE Structured Reporting (SR) technical framework. Previously, the system's earlier dose report sent this information as a fixed DICOM image. The DICOM IHE SR feature allows these data to be sent in such a way that the data can be read by other systems with the proper DICOM IHE SR software, which facilitates monitoring dose for CT examinations. Moreover, the DICOM IHE SR feature will allow the transmission of dose information to dose registries as they become available.

Toshiba's Aquilion One and Aquilion Premium feature additional dose reduction technologies enabling clinicians to manage and lower radiation dose more effectively while still obtaining high-quality images. For example, Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction (AIDR) is software that uses an iterative process to remove noise from the image to increase image quality, thereby enabling a dose reduction of up to 75%. The software intuitively improves the image by removing noise until the optimal image is produced. AIDR is standard on new Aquilion One and Premium systems.

Related Links:
Toshiba Medical Systems
Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance