Publication

Chest-abdomen-pelvis CT for staging in cancer patients: dose effectiveness and image quality using automated attenuation-based tube potential selection

Journal Paper/Review - Sep 2, 2014

Units
PubMed
Doi

Citation
Beeres M, Vogl T, Schulz B, Wichmann J, Kerl J, Mbalisike E, Gruber-Rouh T, Lee C, Bodelle B, Römer M, Bauer R. Chest-abdomen-pelvis CT for staging in cancer patients: dose effectiveness and image quality using automated attenuation-based tube potential selection. Cancer Imaging 2014; 14:28.
Type
Journal Paper/Review (English)
Journal
Cancer Imaging 2014; 14
Publication Date
Sep 2, 2014
Issn Electronic
1470-7330
Pages
28
Brief description/objective

BACKGROUND
Evaluation of automated attenuation-based tube potential selection and its impact on image quality and radiation dose in CT (computed tomography) examinations for cancer staging.

METHODS
A total of 110 (59 men, 51 women) patients underwent chest-abdomen-pelvis CT examinations; 55 using a fixed tube potential of 120 kV/current of 210 Reference mAs (using CareDose4D), and 55 using automated attenuation-based tube potential selection (CAREkV) also using a current of 210 Reference mAs.

RESULTS
Diagnostic image quality was obtained from all patients. The median DLP (703.5 mGy · cm, range 390-2203 mGy · cm) was 7.9% lower when using the algorithm compared with the standard 120 kV protocol (median 756 mGy · cm, range 345-2267 mGy · cm). A reduction in potential to 100 kV occurred in 32 cases; therefore, these patients received significantly lower radiation exposure compared with the 120 kV protocol.

CONCLUSION
Automated attenuation-based tube potential selection produces good diagnostic image quality in chest-abdomen-pelvis CT and reduces the patient's overall radiation dose by 7.9% compared to the standard 120 kV protocol.