Background/introduction
Radiation dose protection has become an essential pillar in Medical Imaging worldwide [1-3].
With CT being a significant contributor to radiation dose in patients,
the Joint Department of Medical Imaging in Toronto (JDMI),
Canada,
has taken a comprehensive approach as the first Medical Imaging Department in Canada,
in order to harmonize CT imaging protocols,
track radiation doses and most importantly,
develop a feedback tool for radiologist on image quality and related radiation dose concerns.
In today’s Canadian healthcare landscape,
there are no formal guidelines for...
Description of activity and work performed
An iterative four phase protocol change management approach was used for the CT dose committee to achieve the goals - identify,
plan,
execute and monitor (Figure 1,2).
In the identification phase,
a CT dose tracker tool (Radimetrics,
Bayer) was leveraged to identify the most frequently used protocols,
mapped out by scanner and location,
and to detect of opportunities for dose reduction.
With an array of various dose metrics,
the dose length product (DLP) was selected as the best metric to track dosage for this committee...
Conclusion and recommendations
The CT dose committee has made a positive impact by achieving a dose reduction ranging between 13% and 37% (p<0.001) for high volume protocols over 15,183 cases assessed.
Also,
protocol parameters were successfully harmonized across all five hospital sites.
The development and implementation of a CT image quality feedback tool provided essential and integral support for the CT dose committee as it allowed for “closing the loop” in an efficient and effective way,
while at the same time,
providing trackable data and the framework for...
Personal/organisational information
JDMI operates 17 CT scanners in 5 hospitals (Canon,
Siemens) and generates approx.
140,000 CT studies annually.
JDMI radiologists are sub-specialized in 7 Divisions: Abdomen,
Cardiothoracic,
Vascular-Interventional,
Nuclear and Molecular,
Breast,
Musculoskeletal Imaging,
and Neuroradiology.
Patrik Rogalla (lead author) founded the CT dose committee and signs responsible for the design and content of the CT image quality feedback tool.
As the Director of CT imaging at JDMI,
he is the physician lead for the CT dose committee and reviews all critical feedback provided through the...
References
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Matsuura Y,
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Dose Reduction...