Dose reduction in multislice computed tomography.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the attenuation-based on-line modulation of tube current on multislice computed tomography (CT) to explore the potential of this dose-saving technique.


METHODS
Fifty-five patients with follow-up CT examinations were scanned without and with a CARE Dose (Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany). The applied dose, image noise, and subjective image quality were evaluated. The reduction in patient exposure was determined by obtaining the effective milliamperes per second for each reconstructed scan and the absolute dosage requirement for the whole scan.


RESULTS
The dose reduction achieved by applying the attenuation-based on-line modulation of tube current was 29.4% +/- 3.1% (P=0.002) for all scans, 30.5% +/- 3.2% (P=0.002) for the thorax scans, 29.7% +/- 2.9% (P=0.002) for the abdomen scans, and 28.7% +/- 2.7% (P=0.003) for the thorax and abdomen scans together. No significant restrictions in image quality were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Remarkable dose reduction can be obtained using the attenuation-based on-line modulation of tube current on multislice CT without compromising image quality.
Hundt
Walter
W
Department of Clinical Radiology, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany. walter.hundt@web.de
Rust
Friedemann
F
Stäbler
Axel
A
Wolff
Heiko
H
Suess
Christoph
C
Reiser
Maximillian
M
D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009862:Online Systems; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods*