Finding dose/quality balance presents CT imaging challenge

October 2, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Finding dose/quality balance presents CT imaging challenge Scan parameters must be tailored to provide best diagnostic images without exposing patients to unnecessary radiation BY MARCO FRANCONE, M.D., PH.D., CARLO CATALANO, M.D., AND FEDERICA VASSELLI, M.D. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interest in cardiac imaging with multislice CT is growing, as evidenced by the large number of studies that have been published on this topic. Advances in cardiac MSCT have also been aided by the introduction of extremely fast, user-friendly scanners. The radiation dose associated with ECG-gated cardiac MSCT, however, has generated considerable debate.1 The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends that "all exposures [are kept] as low as reasonably achievable."2 This goal is known as the ALARA principle, and many strategies have been introduced to achieve it. These have been based on x-ray emissions and/or scanning parameters such as mAs, kV, pitch, and collimation and on the individual patient's characteristics (i.e., automatic exposure control systems and ECG-pulsing techniques for ECG-gated acquisitions).

See full article and related articles at DiagnosticImaging.com
This article was republished with permission from CMPMedica, LLC