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Reducing abdominal CT radiation dose with the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique in children: a feasibility study

Pediatric Radiology volume 41, pages 1174–1182 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Backgound

The use of the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) algorithm has been shown to reduce radiation doses in adults undergoing abdominal CT studies while preserving image quality. To our knowledge, no studies have been done to validate the use of ASIR in children.

Objective

To retrospectively evaluate differences in radiation dose and image quality in pediatric CT abdominal studies utilizing 40% ASIR compared with filtered-back projection (FBP).

Materials and methods

Eleven patients (mean age 8.5 years, range 2–17 years) had separate 40% ASIR and FBP enhanced abdominal CT studies on different days between July 2009 and October 2010. The ASIR studies utilized a 38% mA reduction in addition to our pediatric protocol mAs. Study volume CT dose indexes (CTDIvol) and dose-length products (DLP) were recorded. A consistent representative image was obtained from each study. The images were independently evaluated by two radiologists in a blinded manner for diagnostic utility, image sharpness and image noise.

Results

The average CTDIvol and DLP for the 40% ASIR studies were 4.25 mGy and 185.04 mGy-cm, compared with 6.75 mGy and 275.79 mGy-cm for the FBP studies, representing 37% and 33% reductions in both, respectively. The radiologists’ assessments of subjective image quality did not demonstrate any significant differences between the ASIR and FBP images.

Conclusion

In our experience, the use of 40% ASIR with a 38% decrease in mA lowers the radiation dose for children undergoing enhanced abdominal examinations by an average of 33%, while maintaining diagnostically acceptable images.

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Conflict of interest statement

A.P. and S.S.T. are consultants for GE Healthcare. The remaining authors (G.A.V., R.S.C., B.L.C. and T.S.) have no pertinent disclosures and had full control of the study data during the study.

Disclaimer

Dr. Panigrahy and Dr. Tadros are consultants for GE Healthcare. Drs. Vorona, Ceschin, Clayton and Sutcavage have no pertinent disclosures and had full control of the study data during the study period.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Gregory A. Vorona, Rafael C. Ceschin, Barbara L. Clayton, Tom Sutcavage, Sameh S. Tadros & Ashok Panigrahy

  2. Department of Radiology, Allegheny General Hospital, 320 E. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, USA

    Gregory A. Vorona

Authors
  1. Gregory A. Vorona
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  2. Rafael C. Ceschin
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  3. Barbara L. Clayton
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  4. Tom Sutcavage
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  5. Sameh S. Tadros
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  6. Ashok Panigrahy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory A. Vorona.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 7 CT examination parameters
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Vorona, G.A., Ceschin, R.C., Clayton, B.L. et al. Reducing abdominal CT radiation dose with the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique in children: a feasibility study. Pediatr Radiol 41, 1174–1182 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-011-2063-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-011-2063-x

Keywords

  • Adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction
  • Image quality
  • Radiation dose
  • Reconstruction algorithm
  • CT