Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2019
Keywords:
Action 7 - Radiation protection of children, Action 2 - Clinical diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), Paediatric, CT, Physics, Dosimetry, Dosimetric comparison
Authors:
D. Yanikian Nersissian, H. Leao Filho, C. S. Melo, V. Heidorne Guerra, R. Gonçalves Freitas, M. V. Y. Sawamura, E. M. M. S. GEBRIM, P. R. Costa
DOI:
10.26044/esi2019/ESI-0038
Background/introduction
According to the publication HHS 24 - Dosimetry in Diagnostic Radiology for Pediatric Patients - dosimetry for pediatric patients undergoing diagnostic radiology procedures requires special consideration in addition to the dosimetry methods used for adult patients.
The importance of dosimetry for this group of patients is more delicated than for adults given their: longer life expectancy,
greater risk of radiation due to relative radiosensitivity of various body tissues that vary according to sex and age,
collection and analysis of data for these patients are complex,
fundamentally due to the large and continuous range of patients with distinct sizes present in the pediatric population.
The pediatric patients exams differ from the adults in many ways,
including: different technical factors,
beam quality and,
ideally,
different radiological equipment; one should also consider the type of tests performed and the skill set of the personnel needed to perform these procedures successfully.
This work was carried out as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project (CRP E2.40.20),
entitled “Evaluation and Optimizations of Paediatric Imaging”,
which consists of a consortium of 10 countries for the study of dose optimization in diagnostic procedures for pediatrics patients.
The Dosimetry and Medical Physics Group (Grupo de Dosimetria e Física Médica) of the Physics Institute (IF/USP),
which has been working for more than 10 years in a Quality Assurance Program (QA) at the Institute of Radiology of the Clinical Hospital of the School of Medicine (INRAD/HC/FM/USP),
participates in this program in the areas of diagnostic radiology and computed tomography
In Phase 1 of the project signed between the IF/USP and the HC/FM/USP (CAAE: 55420616.3.0000.0068),
a survey was performed with relevant information on diagnostic imaging tests performed in pediatric patients.
Phase 2 (CAAE: 71052117.1.3001.0068),
the data are being used for proposing optimization protocols aimed at reducing doses in pediatric patients,
without significant loss in the image quality.