Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, 9301, South Africa.
Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa.
Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2023 May 3;199(7):588-602. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncad059.
The study aimed to determine the factors that impact the size-specific dose estimate (SSDE) for computed tomography (CT) examinations of the chest-abdomen-pelvis and abdomen-pelvis protocols in two clinical radiology practices and evaluate the image quality of these protocols. Imaging parameters, protocols, dose metrics from the CT units and size-related parameters to calculate the SSDE were documented. The image quality of the CT images was assessed using an image subtraction algorithm. The SSDE increased as the volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol), and the patient's body mass index increased, respectively. Significant differences (p < 0.001) occurred between the two hospitals regarding image quality. However, these differences were not indicative of differences in the diagnostic performances for task-based imaging protocols. Different clinical protocols should be reviewed to optimise dose. The inclusion of the pre-monitoring sequence, age of the machine and the scan requisition parameters impacted the SSDEs. Image quality should be assessed to evaluate the consistency of image quality between protocols applied by different CT units when assessing SSDEs.
本研究旨在确定影响胸部-腹部-骨盆和腹部-骨盆 CT 检查的体积 CT 剂量指数 (CTDIvol) 和患者体重指数 (BMI) 相关因素，评估这些方案的图像质量。记录 CT 设备的成像参数、方案、剂量指标以及与大小相关的参数，以计算 SSDE。使用图像减影算法评估 CT 图像的质量。SSDE 随着 CTDIvol 和患者 BMI 的增加而增加。两家医院的图像质量存在显著差异（p<0.001）。然而，这些差异并不能表明基于任务的成像方案的诊断性能存在差异。应审查不同的临床方案以优化剂量。预监测序列、机器年龄和扫描申请参数的纳入影响了 SSDE。应评估图像质量，以评估不同 CT 设备应用不同方案时 SSDE 图像质量的一致性。
