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Dose Reduction and Optimization in Computed Tomography of the Chest

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Radiation Dose from Multidetector CT

Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

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Abstract

Even if the clinical benefit of multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) of the chest is expected to be much higher than the potential risks from radiation, reduction and optimization of the radiation dose are highly recommended in accordance with the ALARA principle. As the chest is composed by organs and structures that are characterized by high differences in attenuation values with spontaneously high contrasts, it is well established that MDCT dose can be dramatically reduced. It has been indeed documented that in numerous clinical circumstances, radiation dose cannot be higher than 10 to 20% of the standard doses recommended by the scanner vendors (i.e. CTDIvol from 0.6 to 3 mGy, DLP from 30 to 120 mGy cm, E from 0.6 to 2.5 mSv as compared to 8–14 mSv). This is of particular concern in patients with long life expectancy and can be achieved by automatic exposure control in adjunction to either reduced tube current time product, reduced tube potential, or both. Newly developed dose reduction strategies, in particular iterative reconstructions will enable to obtain CT scans of high quality with a dose close of that delivered for plain film examinations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Clinic of Chest Imaging, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Pierre Alain Gevenois

  2. Department of Radiology, RHMS Clinique Louis Caty, Rue Louis Caty 136, 7331, Baudour, Belgium

    Denis Tack

Authors
  1. Pierre Alain Gevenois
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  2. Denis Tack
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Correspondence to Pierre Alain Gevenois .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Radiology, Reseau Hospitaller de Medecine Sociale, Baudour, Belgium

    Denis Tack

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Fruit St. 55, Boston, 02114, Massachusetts, USA

    Mannudeep K. Kalra

  3. Hôspital Erasme, Department of Radiology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, Brussels, 1070, Belgium

    Pierre Alain Gevenois

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Gevenois, P.A., Tack, D. (2011). Dose Reduction and Optimization in Computed Tomography of the Chest. In: Tack, D., Kalra, M., Gevenois, P. (eds) Radiation Dose from Multidetector CT. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2011_419

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2011_419

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-24534-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-24535-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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