Objectives: The aim of this study was to calculate organ and effective doses for a range of available protocols in a particular cone beam CT (CBCT) scanner dedicated to dentistry and to derive effective dose conversion factors. Methods: Monte Carlo simulations were used to calculate organ and effective doses using the International Commission on Radiological Protection voxel adult male and female reference phantoms (AM and AF) in an i-CAT CBCT. Nine different fields of view (FOVs) were simulated considering full-and half-rotation modes, and also a high-resolution acquisition for a particular protocol. Dose-area product (DAP) was measured. Results: Dose to organs varied for the different FOVs, usually being higher in the AF phantom. For 360°, effective doses were in the range of 25-66 mSv, and 46 mSv for full head. Higher contributions to the effective dose corresponded to the remainder (31%; 27-36 range), salivary glands (23%; 20-29%), thyroid (13%; 8-17%), red bone marrow (10%; 9-11%) and oesophagus (7%; 4-10%). The high-resolution protocol doubled the standard resolution doses. DAP values were between 181 mGy cm 2 and 556 mGy cm 2 for 360°. For 180°protocols, dose to organs, effective dose and DAP were approximately 40% lower. A conversion factor (DAP to effective dose) of 0.130 6 0.006 mSv mGy 21 cm 22 was derived for all the protocols, excluding full head. A wide variation in dose to eye lens and thyroid was found when shifting the FOV in the AF phantom. Conclusions: Organ and effective doses varied according to field size, acquisition angle and positioning of the beam relative to radiosensitive organs. Good positive correlation between calculated effective dose and measured DAP was found. Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (2013) 42, 92555893. doi: 10.1259/dmfr/92555893Cite this article as: Morant JJ, Salvadó M, Hernández-Girón I, Casanovas R, Ortega R, Calzado A. Dosimetry of a cone beam CT device for oral and maxillofacial radiology using Monte Carlo techniques and ICRP adult reference computational phantoms.

We have developed an automated method to objectively investigate image quality using the NPWE model in combination with images of the Catphan phantom low contrast module. As a first step, low contrast detectability as a function of both acquisition and reconstruction parameter settings was successfully investigated with the software. In future work, this method could play a role in image reconstruction algorithms evaluation, dose reduction strategies or novel CT technologies, and other model observers may be implemented as well.

A method to carry out stoichiometric calibrations of CT scanners employed in radiotherapy treatment planning is proposed. The method is based on a simple parametrization of the CT number of a substance, which involves only two variables to describe the substance (electron density and one effective atomic number) and one parameter to describe the beam. The method was tested experimentally on a group of beams. A set of no tissue-like substances of known densities and elemental compositions were employed as calibrators. CT number-to-density curves (RED curves) were calculated with the proposed parametrization and compared to those measured with a commercial density phantom. Differences between the electron densities assigned by the calculated RED curves and the measured ones were in the range 0.009-0.019 (RMS). The proposed method may be employed to carry out accurate stoichiometric calibrations by using only one suitable substance as calibrator, not necessarily tissue-like.

RMS, Veldkamp WJH. Comparison between human and model observer performance in lowcontrast detection tasks in CT images: application to images reconstructed with filtered back projection and iterative algorithms. Br J Radiol 2014;87:20140014. FULL PAPERComparison between human and model observer performance in low-contrast detection tasks in CT images: application to images reconstructed with filtered back projection and iterative algorithms Objective: To compare low-contrast detectability (LCDet) performance between a model [non-pre-whitening matched filter with an eye filter (NPWE)] and human observers in CT images reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) and iterative [adaptive iterative dose reduction three-dimensional (AIDR 3D; Toshiba Medical Systems, Zoetermeer, Netherlands)] algorithms. Methods: Images of the Catphan® phantom (Phantom Laboratories, New York, NY) were acquired with Aquilion ONE™ 320-detector row CT (Toshiba Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) at five tube current levels (20-500 mA range) and reconstructed with FBP and AIDR 3D. Samples containing either low-contrast objects (diameters, 2-15 mm) or background were extracted and analysed by the NPWE model and four human observers in a two-alternative forced choice detection task study. Proportion correct (PC) values were obtained for each analysed object and used to compare human and model observer performances. An efficiency factor (h) was calculated to normalize NPWE to human results. Results: Human and NPWE model PC values (normalized by the efficiency, h 5 0.44) were highly correlated for the whole dose range. The Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients (95% confidence interval) between human and NPWE were 0.984 (0.972-0.991) for AIDR 3D and 0.984 (0.971-0.991) for FBP, respectively. Bland-Altman plots based on PC results showed excellent agreement between human and NPWE [mean absolute difference 0.5 6 0.4%; range of differences (24.7%, 5.6%)]. Conclusion: The NPWE model observer can predict human performance in LCDet tasks in phantom CT images reconstructed with FBP and AIDR 3D algorithms at different dose levels. Advances in knowledge: Quantitative assessment of LCDet in CT can accurately be performed using software based on a model observer.

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