title: Dose study of electrocardiogram automatic tube current modulation technology in prospective coronary computed tomography angiography scans of overweight patients.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the X-ray absorption dose and clinical applications of electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) technology in prospective sequential computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) scans of overweight patients. A total of 40 patients with a body mass index of >24 were divided at random into groups A and B. Group A consisted of 20 patients, who were examined using ECG-ATCM scanning. For the patients in group A with heart rates <70 bpm, the scanning range was 20-80% of the R-R interval and the patients received full-dose X-rays for 60-80% of the R-R interval. For the group A patients with heart rates >70 bpm, the scanning range was 20-80% of the R-R interval and the patients received full-dose scanning for 35-55% of the R-R interval. For the 20 patients in group B, the scanning range was 20-80% of the R-R interval and patients received a full dose of X-ray radiation for the entire scanning period. The image quality and radiation dose was compared between the two groups. The average radiation dose in groups A and B was 6.91±2.78 and 10.43±3.36, respectively. The radiation doses in group A were reduced by 33.77% when compared with group B (P<0.05). However, there was no marked difference observed in image quality. In summary, using ECG-ATCM technology in prospective sequential CTCA scanning may significantly reduce the radiation dose required for overweight patients.
authors.affiliation: CT/MR Room, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, ürümqi, Xinjiang 830000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guiru
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: CT/MR Room, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, ürümqi, Xinjiang 830000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaopei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CT/MR Room, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, ürümqi, Xinjiang 830000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CT/MR Room, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, ürümqi, Xinjiang 830000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CT/MR Room, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, ürümqi, Xinjiang 830000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ke
keywords: coronary artery; dual-source computed tomography; electrocardiogram automatic tube current modulation technique; low dose; overweight; sequential scanning