Software Development for Estimating the Conversion Factor (K-Factor) at Suitable Scan Areas, Relating the Dose Length Product to the Effective Dose.
We developed a k-factor-creator software (kFC) that provides the k-factor for CT examination in an arbitrary scan area. It provides the k-factor from the effective dose and dose-length product by Imaging Performance Assessment of CT scanners and CT-EXPO. To assess the reliability, we compared the kFC-evaluated k-factors with those of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) publication 102. To confirm the utility, the effective dose determined by coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) was evaluated by a phantom study and k-factor studies. In the CCTA, the effective doses were 5.28 mSv in the phantom study, 2.57 mSv (51%) in the k-factor of ICRP, and 5.26 mSv (1%) in the k-factor of the kFC. Effective doses can be determined from the kFC-evaluated k-factors in suitable scan areas. Therefore, we speculate that the flexible k-factor is useful in clinical practice, because CT examinations are performed in various scan regions.
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Masanao
M
Kobayashi
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Yasuki
Y
Asada
Kanazawa University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Division of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa, Japan.
Kosuke
K
Matsubara
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Syouichi
S
Suzuki
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Kichiro
K
Koshida
Department of Imaging, Nagoya Kyoritsu Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
Yuta
Y
Matsunaga
Department of Radiology, Fujita Health University Hospital, Toyoake, Japan.
Ai
A
Kawaguchi
Department of Radiology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Japan.
Tomonobu
T
Haba
Department of Radiology, Toyota Memorial Hospital, Toyota, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Toyama
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Ryouichi
R
Kato
D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed