Radiation Dose Reduction Tool Designed for Abdominal CT Scanning

Radiation dose reduction has become a key important topic in modern medical imaging technology, with newer techniques being developed in an effort to decrease doses to as low as possible. Researchers have initiated a recent study to try to determine what difference these new tools can make for optimum healthcare.

“We conducted a study to quantify dose reduction, comparing two years’ worth of data and 11,458 abdomen and pelvic CT [computed tomography] exams,” said Dr. Jonas Rydberg, from Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, USA), and lead author of the study. Data were gathered on 5,707 consecutive CT abdomen and pelvis exams without iterative reconstruction or longitudinal dose modulation. The information was compared to 5,750 exams in which both techniques were applied. “We saw a 23% total radiation dose reduction in the second group,” said Dr. Rydberg. “If you consider that there are about 20 million abdominal CT examinations done each year in the US a 23% dose reduction translates into between 1,000 and 3,000 fewer radiation induced cancers each year, if we use the same assumptions used for survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he said.

Iterative reconstruction is a mathematical application that is a major part of the CT scanner that allows for good quality images with lower radiation doses, according to Dr. Rydberg. Longitudinal dose modulation alters the radiation dose based on the density of the part of the body being imaged.

Dr. Rydberg presented his study’s findings at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) annual meeting, held April 2013, in Washington (DC, USA).

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Indiana University School of Medicine