High levels of tuberculosis morbidity in the Russian Federation lead to the extensive use of X-ray diagnostics for the tuberculosis screening and assessment of the effectiveness of treatment. Digital radiography and computed tomography are traditionally used for the diagnostics of tuberculosis. These methods are associated with significant drawbacks: low specificity for radiography, high costs per examination, significant patient doses, and limited availability for computed tomography. As an additional method for the assessment of the effectiveness of the tuberculosis treatment it is possible to use linear tomography performed on the digital X-ray units. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the possibility of utilization of the digital linear tomography for the control of the effectiveness of tuberculosis treatment in a dedicated antitubercular medical facility. The study was divided in two stages. The first stage was aimed at the assessment of the diagnostic image quality of the digital linear tomograms obtained using the previously developed low-dose imaging protocols. Image quality assessment was performed using an anthropomorphic chest phantom and dedicated imitators of the lung lesions. Image quality was assessed by the experts (radiologists) based on the developed image quality criteria. Results of the first stage of the study indicate that all low-dose protocols allow obtaining images with at least acceptable image quality. Hence it was possible to propose low-dose protocols for clinical evaluations. The second stage of the study was performed as a prospective cohort survey aimed at the evaluation of the structure of X-ray examinations, patient doses and clinical image quality of the digital linear tomograms in antitubercular early treatment center. The cohort survey included two patient samples, uniform by age and gender composition, anthropometric characteristics and structure of diagnosis. One of the samples was imaged using standard (vendor) digital linear protocols, other – using the proposed low-dose protocols. Dose data collection (measurement of dose-area product and subsequent calculation of effective dose) and expert image quality assessment was performed for each patient. The results of the second stage of the study indicate that the use of the low-dose protocols allow reducing the patient effective doses per examination up to a factor of 6–8 (0.56 – 5.9 mSv for standard protocols; 0.2 – 1.15 mSv for low-dose protocols) due to the reduction in tube current-time product (126 mean mAs and 11 mean mAs, respectively). The dose reduction is accompanied by the reduction in the image quality of the linear tomograms (from “excellent” or “good” for standard protocols to “acceptable” for low-dose protocols). However, that dose not hinder the conclusion decision and identification of pathologies. Results of the study indicate that digital linear tomography can be used for the evaluation of the dynamics of the pathological process in the lungs with the previously defined localization of the pathology. The presented low-dose protocols were implemented into radiological practice of the antitubercular early treatment center. Currently, the proposed low-dose protocols are under evaluation for the large-scale study on the base of general practice hospitals
