title: Construction of pediatric homogeneous phantoms for optimization of chest and skull radiographs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop two pediatric patient-equivalent phantoms, the Pediatric Chest Equivalent Patient (PCEP) and the Pediatric Skull Equivalent Patient (PSEP) for children aged 1 to 5 years. We also used both phantoms for image quality evaluations in computed radiography systems to determine Gold Standard (GS) techniques for pediatric patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  To determine the simulator materials thickness (Lucite and aluminum), we quantified biological tissues (lung, soft, and bone) using an automatic computational algorithm. To objectively establish image quality levels, two physical quantities were used: effective detective quantum efficiency and contrast-to-noise ratio. These quantities were associated to values obtained for standard patients from previous studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For chest radiographies, the GS technique applied was 81kVp, associated to 2.0mAs and 83.6μGy of entrance skin dose (ESD), while for skull radiographies, the GS technique was 70kVp, associated to 5mAs and 339μGy of ESD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This procedure allowed us to choose optimized techniques for pediatric protocols, thus improving quality of diagnosis for pediatric population and reducing diagnostic costs to our institution. These results could also be easily applied to other services with different equipment technologies.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências de Botucatu, P.O. BOX 510, Departamento de Física e Biofísica, UNESP-Universidade Estadual Paulista, Distrito de Rubião Junior S/N, Botucatu, 18618-000 São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: allan@ibb.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Allan Felipe Fattori
authors.initials: AFF
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências de Botucatu, Departamento de Física e Biofísica, UNESP-Universidade Estadual Paulista, Distrito de Rubião Junior S/N, Botucatu, 18618-000 São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: jmiranda@ibb.unesp.br.
authors.forename: José Ricardo de Arruda
authors.initials: JRA
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências de Botucatu, Departamento de Física e Biofísica, UNESP-Universidade Estadual Paulista, Distrito de Rubião Junior S/N, Botucatu, 18618-000 São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: fernando.bacchim@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fernando Antonio
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Bacchim Neto
authors.affiliation: Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Laboratório de Altas Energias, Dr. Xavier Sigaud, 150, Rio de Janeiro, 22290-180 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: sbd@cbpf.br.
authors.forename: Sérgio Barbosa
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Doenças Tropicais e Diagnóstico por Imagem, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, UNESP-Universidade Estadual Paulista, Distrito de Rubião Junior S/N, Botucatu, 18618-000 São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: drpina@fmb.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Diana Rodrigues de
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Pina
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Chest and skull; Dose optimization; Image quality; Pediatric homogenous phantom