Keywords:
Radioprotection / Radiation dose, CT, Diagnostic procedure, Radiation safety, Dosimetric comparison
Authors:
P. GARCIA CASTAÑON, I. Salmerón Béliz, G. Paradela Díaz, R. Rosado del Castillo, P. Chamorro, S. HONORATO HERNANDEZ, C. PRIETO MARTIN
Purpose or learning objective
Evaluation and optimization of radiation doses is important in diagnostic radiology, especially in computed tomography (CT), where doses can be high. Establishment of Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) and comparison with local ones constitutes the main tool for optimization, but this is always a difficult task in CT, due to the huge variety of protocols. Traditionally, DRLs for CT were established for study descriptions such as Chest CT or abdominal CT, but there are huge differences between centres and even units within a description. Each facility has many different protocols for each description, with different number of series and scan lengths, so the comparison is not always easy or coherent. Hence, this method may not detect protocols that need optimization.
European Commission has promoted and funded an optimization project named EUCLID, which stands for “European clinical DRLs” and was awarded by the European Society of Radiology (ESR). This project has tried to solve that problem by defining European DRLs based on the clinical indication rather than study description. Ten clinical indications have been selected for CT in order to establish European DRLs.
The aim of the study is to apply the EUCLID DRLs as a tool to optimize the CT protocols and therefore patient doses in two newly installed CT devices.