title: Reducing radiation dose in body CT: a practical approach to optimizing CT protocols.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to describe an approach to protocol modifications in body CT to reduce patient radiation exposure while maintaining image quality and to illustrate the effects of these modifications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One should become proficient in interpreting the CT dose report, adjusting CT technical parameters, and applying focused collimation. The goal is to intelligently use CT to answer the question of clinical concern in the most dose-efficient manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, UMDNJ-NJ Medical School, University Hospital, 150 Bergen St, UH C-320, Newark, NJ 07103-2406, USA.
authors.forename: Alice R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Pierre D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Maldjian
mesh_terms: D001822:Body Burden; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed