The optimisation of paediatric CT examinations in Scotland: phase one; benchmarking current performance
To benchmark the dose from paediatric head and chest examinations on computed tomography (CT)
scanners throughout Scotland, to identify scanners that may require optimisation and to provide
optimisation advice based on the protocols from better performing scanners. Anthropomorphic phantoms
corresponding to 1, 5 and 10 year olds were sent to 50 CT scanners around Scotland. Head and chest
examinations were undertaken by local staff using local techniques on each scanner with each
phantom, and details of the protocols used were recorded. Computed tomography dose index (CTDI) vol
and dose length product (DLP) were recorded post-scan. There is a significant variation in
performance throughout Scotland. For head examinations, the highest DLP is 13 times the lowest for
an equivalent sized phantom. For chest examinations, the highest is 128 times the lowest for an
equivalent sized phantom. The wide range of CT dose measurements indicates the potential for
variation in image qu...
Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - Category: Physics Authors: Mark Worrall, Nicola MacDonald, Rebecca Gillen, Andrew Hince, Lee Hampson, Rebecca Duguid, Stephen McCallum and David Gentle Source Type: research