title: [State of the art and future trends in technology for computed tomography dose reduction].
abstract: The introduction of helical and multislice acquisitions in CT scanners together with decreased image reconstruction times has had a tremendous impact on radiological practice. Technological developments in the last 10 to 12 years have enabled very high quality images to be obtained in a very short time. Improved image quality has led to an increase in the number of indications for CT. In parallel to this development, radiation exposure in patients has increased considerably. Concern about the potential health risks posed by CT imaging, reflected in diverse initiatives and actions by official organs and scientific societies, has prompted the search for ways to reduce radiation exposure in patients without compromising diagnostic efficacy. To this end, good practice guidelines have been established, special applications have been developed for scanners, and research has been undertaken to optimize the clinical use of CT. Noteworthy technical developments incorporated in scanners include the different modes of X-ray tube current modulation, automatic selection of voltage settings, selective organ protection, adaptive collimation, and iterative reconstruction. The appropriate use of these tools to reduce radiation doses requires thorough knowledge of how they work.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Radiología y Medicina Física, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, España. Electronic address: calzado@ucm.es.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calzado Cantera
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Radiología y Medicina Física, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, España; Departamento de Ciencias Médicas Básicas, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, España.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hernández-Girón
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Médicas Básicas, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, España.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salvadó Artells
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Radiología y Medicina Física, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, España; Servicio de Radiología, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodríguez González
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*
keywords: Dose reduction; Dosis de radiación; Multidetector computed tomography; Protección radiológica; Radiation dosage; Radiation protection; Reducción de dosis; Tomografía computarizada de rayos X; Tomografía computarizada multicorte; X-ray computed tomography