CT Radiation Dose Management: A Comprehensive Optimization Process for Improving Patient Safety

Abstract

Rising concerns of radiation exposure from computed tomography have caused various advances in dose reduction technologies. While proper justification and optimization of scans has been the main focus to address increasing doses, the value of dose management has been largely overlooked. The purpose of this article is to explain the importance of dose management, provide an overview of the available options for dose tracking, and discuss the importance of a dedicated dose team. The authors also describe how a digital radiation tracking software can be used for analyzing the big data on doses for auditing patient safety, scanner utilization, and productivity, all of which have enormous personal and institutional implications. (©) RSNA, 2016.

Inter‐laboratory comparison of channelized hotelling observer computation

“…The use of X ray technology in medical imaging involves tradeoffs: while enabling the diagnosis of disease, the unavoidable cost is the dose to the patient. With the increasing use of volumetric imaging like X ray computed tomography (CT), the collective dose to the population increases as well, making dose management a priority in radiological imaging . However, reducing the dose without accounting for any potential degradation of image quality could reduce the benefit for the patient in the form of a misdiagnosis.…”

Niveles de referencia para diagnóstico: Una herramienta efectiva para la protección radiológica de pacientes

“…Los DRLs cobran especial importancia en TC, ya que como se ha señalado, esta modalidad es la principal fuente artificial de radiación a la que está expuesta la población y además, es una técnica de mayor complejidad, con gran variabilidad en los equipos y en las opciones de operación (31) . En TC, los DRLs se deben estudiar en base a los diferentes protocolos de examen, es decir al conjunto de parámetros o características ajustadas a procedimientos clínicos concretos y a un área anatómica específica, por ejemplo, abdomen y pelvis sin y con contraste intravenoso.…”

Analysis of a multicentre cloud-based CT dosimetric database: preliminary results

“…To analyse the dosimetric archive, the associated large amount of data was clustered according to the RadLex® playbook [15] as in the previously cited papers [9][10][11].…”

“…Parakh et al [10] presented their experience with a radiation tracking software (RTS) for monitoring and comparing in relative terms cumulative patient effective doses and for calculating the average dose metrics, hence providing a global view of CT doses and defining a meaningful benchmark representing institutional DRLs. They stated that a critical step was to ensure that CT protocols on all scanners were consistently identified, a goal achieved by adopting the RadLex® playbook.…”