Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2020
Keywords:
Multicentre study, Experimental, Not applicable, Quality assurance, Education and training, Radiation safety, Physics, Observer performance, CT, Radioprotection / Radiation dose, Action 1 - Guidelines, implementation policies, and Clinical Decision Support (ESR iGuide)
Authors:
H. de las Heras Gala, A. Giussani, G. Brix
DOI:
10.26044/esi2020/ESI-05022
Background/introduction
According to Article 3.5 of the directive 2013/59/EURATOM, radiation protection “shall be optimised with the aim of keeping the magnitude of individual doses […] as low as reasonably achievable […]”.
In addition to the customization of protocols for CT studies, a dose efficiency index (DEI) for the device itself could help to objectively compare CT systems under standardized measurement and evaluation conditions.
We designed a method to calculate a dose-efficiency index based on the results of a project funded by the German Ministry of the Environment (Racine et al, 2017 [1]). The method makes use of a model observer to evaluate the images of a phantom. The phantom contains a module with four inserts of different diameter and contrast. A first application is foreseen for a low-contrast protocol such as brain imaging. However, the method can be adapted to other low-contrast protocols for CT studies of the abdomen.