Improved Estimates of Trunk and Head CT Radiation Dose: Development of Size-Specific Dose Estimate

In 1981, the Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) was proposed as a method to estimate the absorbed dose to a standard plastic phantom to compare the radiation delivered to the phantom from two different CT scanners [1]. Although this dose estimate to a specific phantom was not intended to be an estimate of patient dose, it was incorrectly used to estimate dose to patients of varying size from newborns to large adults. This error resulted in estimates of abdominal CT patient doses to newborns that were less than half the actual dose [2] and subsequent development of CT radiographic protocols that delivered more than double the intended radiation dose to pediatric patients.
Source: Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Radiation sensibilities Source Type: research