Pediatric Chest and Abdominopelvic CT: Organ Dose Estimation Based on 42 Patient Models

Abstract

Purpose:To estimate organ dose from pediatric chest and abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) examinations and evaluate the dependency of organ dose coefficients on patient size and CT scanner models. Materials and Methods:The institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant study and did not require informed patient consent. A validated Monte Carlo program was used to perform simulations in 42 pediatric patient models (age range, 0-16 years; weight range, 2-80 kg; 24 boys, 18 girls).Multidetector CT scanners were modeled on those from two commercial manufacturers (LightSpeed VCT, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis; SOMATOM Definition Flash, Siemens Healthcare, Forchheim, Germany). Organ doses were estimated for each patient model for routine chest and abdominopelvic examinations and were normalized by volume CT dose index (CTDI vol ). The relationships between CTDI vol -normalized organ dose coefficients and average patient diameters were evaluated across scanner models. Results:For organs within the image coverage, CTDI vol -normalized organ dose coefficients largely showed a strong exponential relationship with the average patient diameter (R 2 . 0.9). The average percentage differences between the two scanner models were generally within 10%. For distributed organs and organs on the periphery of or outside the image coverage, the differences were generally larger (average, 3%-32%) mainly because of the effect of overranging. Conclusion:It is feasible to estimate patient-specific organ dose for a given examination with the knowledge of patient size and the CTDI vol . These CTDI vol -normalized organ dose coefficients enable one to readily estimate patient-specific organ dose for pediatric patients in clinical settings. This dose information, and, as appropriate, attendant risk estimations, can provide more substantive information for the individual patient for both clinical and research applications and can yield more expansive information on dose profiles across patient populations within a practice.q RSNA, 2013

Radiation Dose to the Breast by 64-slice CT

“…The dependence of organ dose on patient size has been extensively studied using validated Monte Carlo simulation. A number of groups reported that CTDIvol normalized organ dose as a function of patient size can be approximated as an exponential curve (11,24). Their findings can be combined with our findings here to develop a complete methodology for accurate and robust determination of breast dose from CT studies.…”

Determining organ dose: the holy grail

“…This has been performed using a benchmarked Monte Carlo radiation transport program across the population of human models for a variety of CT systems [8,16,17]. With a fixed irradiation condition over the scanned field of view, organ doses are estimated by tallying the energy deposited in each organ.…”