Background/Introduction
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CT is a valuable imaging method that can be used to examine organs and tissues,
detect abnormalities,
guide procedures and perform biopsies.
However,
the clinical usefulness of CT has to be weighed against the risks associated with radiation dose.
Because of the increased use of CT and the potential radiogenic risks,
dose management actions are required to achieve diagnostic image quality with the lowest patient radiation dose possible.
Several techniques and tools have been developed for...
Description of activity and work performed
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Female breast is considered to be one of the most radiosensitive tissues of the human body.
The radiosensitivity of human organs and tissues is considered in the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) reports by the tissue weighting factor in calculations of the effective dose.
The ICRP increased the weighting factor for breast tissue from 0.05 in 1991 to 0.12 in 2007.
In-plane bismuth breast shields have been used to reduce breast dose from chest CT...
Conclusion and Recommendations
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Radioprotective shields have the potential to reduce doses from CT.
Research work is needed to investigate the effect of shields on image quality as well as the proper use of in-plane shielding when AEC is activated for the different AEC technologies developed by CT vendors.
Personal/Organisational information
The Medical Physics Department of the University of Crete possesses a strong expertise in scientific topics related to medical radiation protection and dosimetry.
It has a permanent staff of 8 medical physicists supported by post-doctoral researchers and research collaborators.
References
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1.
Colletti P,
Micheli O,
Lee K.
To shield or not to shield: application of bismuth breast shields.
AJR 2013;200:503-507
2.
Keil B,
Wulff J,
Schmitt R et al Protection of eye lens in computed tomography – dose evaluation on an anthropomorphic phantom using thermo-luminescence dosimeters and Monte-Carlo investigations.
Rofo 2008;180(12):1047-1053
3.
Perisinakis K,
Raissaki M,
Tzedakis A,
Theocharopoulos N,
Damilakis J.
Reduction of eye lens radiation dose by orbital bismuth shielding in pediatric patients undergoing...