• AEC activation reduces conceptus radiation dose at all gestational stages. • Patients should be accurately aligned at the gantry isocenter. • Patient centring deserves increased attention in clinical practice. • Pregnant patient centring errors do not considerably affect conceptus dose.

The effective doses and potential cancer risks associated with pediatric DXA examinations performed on a GE Lunar Prodigy fan-beam scanner were found to be comparable to doses and risks reported from pencil-beam DXA devices.

Recent advances in the densitometric and imaging techniques involved in the management of osteoporosis are associated with increasing accuracy and precision as well as with higher exposure to ionising radiation. Therefore, special attention to quality assurance (QA) procedures is needed in this field. The development of effective and efficient QA programmes is mandatory to guarantee optimal image quality while reducing radiation exposure levels to the ALARA principle (as low as reasonably achievable). In this review article, the basic QA procedures are discussed for the techniques applied to everyday clinical practice.

No abstract

This article provides an overview of the literature regarding the magnitude of radiation exposure associated with the current radiologic methods used in patients with suspected osteoporosis. The use of X-ray-based techniques for the detection and monitoring of osteoporosis has increased over the last few decades. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry is the most common method, used worldwide for the assessment of osteoporosis, and it may be applied at several skeletal sites. Quantitative computed tomography comprises an alternative validated technique, increasingly used for skeleton assessment. Although radiation doses from methods applied for the management of osteoporosis are low, compared with other radiologic methods, special attention should be paid to justify and optimize each procedure, taking into consideration all radiation protection measures. Dose optimization, including dose reduction techniques and low-dose protocols, is of paramount importance, even for low-dose examinations, to achieve the minimum radiation burden to the exposed patients and personnel.