Survey and reduction of patient doses in computed tomography

Abstract

A survey of patient exposure in Computed Tomography was taken up by a team of Physicists from Dubai hospital in 2008 after the UAE joined the IAEA regional project on patient exposure in radiology, RAS/9/047. Nine major Hospitals from both public and private sectors in Dubai area were selected to participate to the survey. Phase 1 of the program consisted on checking the image quality of the CT machines in each Hospital and measuring the values of the CTDI w by means of the head (16 cm of diameter) and body (32 cm of diameter) cylindrical PMMA phantoms. After the conclusion of the first phase, Phase 2 was launched at Dubai Hospital, a major Governmental Hospital in Dubai, as a pilot study consisting of collecting dose-Length-Product (DLP) values generated by the CT system after CT examinations are completed. The examinations included in the study were brain, chest, and the combination Abdomen & Pelvis CT procedures, which are the most common in the Hospital. Furthermore, the recorded DLP values were compared to and found much higher than the Dose Reference Levels (DRL) established in the UK [Ref. 1]. The situation called for a remedial effort to reduce rapidly patient doses in Computed Tomography. The corrective actions undertaken jointly by Medical Physicists and radiology staff (the users) reached its objectives as the technical measures taken allowed a drastic reduction of the DLP values, bringing down patient exposure to acceptable levels, closer to the standards prevailing in international practice. The experience gained at Dubai Hospital is being implanted in the rest of the participating hospitals. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.