Dose estimation in pediatric CT scans using Virtual Dose® software
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i5.27800Keywords:
Computed Tomography; Pediatrics; Radiological protection.Abstract
Objectives: evaluate the effective doses and organ doses from exposure of pediatric patients undergoing CT scans using the Virtual Dose® software. Methods: quantitative, retrospective study, consisting of a random sample of CT scans performed in pediatric patients of both genders, aged 0 to 18 years, from September to December 2020, obtained through the Santa Catarina Telemedicine and Telehealth System (STT). The following secondary data were collected through the DICOM header: kVp, mAs, pitch, slice thickness, scan length, gender, and age group. After collected the data were entered into the Virtual Dose® version 1.0 software for calculation of absorbed dose and effective dose. Results: Of the 100 exam samples collected, 35 exams met the inclusion criteria. The most frequently performed protocols in the period in question were total abdomen/abdomen and pelvis 88.6%, and upper abdomen 8.6%. The mean value of effective doses for abdominal CT scans was 4.35mSv. The age group between 7-10 years received the highest effective dose, 5.09 mSv on average, followed by the 11-14 years group with 4.58 mSv on average. The age group between 0-6 years corresponded to the exams with the lowest effective dose 3.14 (± 0.7) mSv on average. Conclusions: It was observed that the radiation dose received by patients in abdominal CT scans are within the values reported in the literature, but that further studies need to be done to establish the culture of registration and optimization of doses of exposed patients.
References
AAPM. (2021). The Report of AAPM Task Group 246: Estimating Patient Organ Dose With Computed Tomography: A Review Of Present Methodology And Required Dicom Information. American Association of Physicists in Medicine
Brenner, D. J, Elliston, C. D, Hall, E. J, & Berdon, W. E. (2001). Estimated risks of radiation-induced fatal cancer from pediatric CT. AJR Am J Roentgenol; 176: 289-96, doi:10.2214/ajr.176.2.1760289
De Mattia, C., Campanaro, F., Rottoli, F., Colombo, P. E., Pola, A., Vanzulli, A. & Torresin, A. (2020). Patient organ and effective dose estimation in CT: comparison of four software applications. Eur Radiol; 4 (2), 10.1186/s41747-019-0130-5
Gil, A. C. (2017). Como Elaborar Projetos de Pesquisa, (6a ed.). Grupo GEN. https://app.minhabiblioteca.com.br/books/9788597012934
ICRP. (2017). Diagnostic reference levels in medical imaging. ICRP Publication 135. ICRP 46(1). International Commission on Radiological Protection
ICRP. (2007). The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication 103; ICRP 37: 2-4. International Commission on Radiological Protection
Image Gently. (2020). The Image Gently Alliance. https://www.imagegently.org/
Jessen, Ka., Bongartz, G., Geleijns, J., Golding, S. J., Jurik, A. G., Leonardi, M., van Meerten, E. v.P., Panzer, W., Shrimpton, P. C., Tosi, G. (2000). Quality Criteria Development Within The Fourth Framework Research Programme: Computed Tomography. Radiation Protection Dosimetry; 90 (1): 79-83, 10.1093/oxfordjournals.rpd.a033147
Kim, K. P., Berrington de González, A., Pearce, M. S., Salotti, J. A., Parker, L., McHugh, K., Craft, A. W., & Lee, C. (2012). Development of a database of organ doses for paediatric and young adult CT scans in the United Kingdom. Radiation protection dosimetry, 150(4), 415–426. https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncr429
Mathews, J. D., Forsythe, A. V., Brady, Z., Butler, M. W., Goergen, S. K., Byrnes, G. B., Giles, G.G.,Wallace, A. B., Anderson, P. R., Guiver, T. A., McGale, P., Cain, T. M., Dowty, J.G., Bickerstaffe, A. C., Darby, S. C. (2013). Cancer risk in 680 000 people exposed to computed tomography scans in childhood or adolescence: data linkage study of 11 million Australians. BMJ; 2360–2360, 10.1136/bmj.f2360
Mohd Tap, N. H., Jaafar Sidek, M.A., Mohd Ridzwan, S. F, Selvarajah, S. E, Mohd Zaki, F, Abdul Hamid, H. (2018). Computed tomography dose in paediatric care: simple dose estimation using dose length product conversion coefficients. Malays J Med Sci; 25 (4): 82–91, 10.21315/mjms2018.25.4.8
NCRP. (2019). Report No. 184: Medical Radiation Exposure of Patients In The United States. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements
Pages, J., Buls, N., & Osteaux, M. (2003). CT doses in children: a multicentre study. The British Journal of Radiology. 2003; 76 (911): 803–811, doi:10.1259/bjr/92706933
SBP. (2018). Para evitar riscos de superexposição, SBP lança campanha para o uso racional de exames de diagnóstico por imagem em crianças e adolescentes. https://www.sbp.com.br/imprensa/detalhe/nid/para-evitar-riscos-de-superexposicao-sbp-lanca-campanha-para-o-uso-racional-de-exames-de-diagnostico-por-imagem-em-criancas-e-adolescentes/. Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria
Souza, S. D., Lanfredi, M. P., Silva, M. A. M., (2018). Parâmetros De Aquisição Em Tomografia Computadorizada Para Pacientes Pediátricos: Uma Revisão Bibliográfica. Revista Brasileira De Física Médica; 12(3): 30, 10.29384/rbfm.2018.v12.n3.p30-34
Strauss, K. J., Frush, D. P., Goske, M. J. (2015). Image Gently campaign: making a world of difference. Medical Physics International Journal; 3 (2). http://mpijournal.org/pdf/2015-02/ MPI-2015-02-p094.pdf
Teferi, Seife; Zewdeneh, Daniel; Bekele, Solomon. (2018). Pediatric Residents' and Medical Interns' Awareness about Pediatric Ionizing Radiation Dose from Computed Tomography and Its Associated Risks in Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia. Ethiopian journal of health sciences; 28 (4): 383–392, 10.4314/ejhs.v28i4.4
UNSCEAR. (2010). Report. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. Volume I: Sources: Report to the General Assembly, Scientific Annexes A and B. https://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/publications/2008_1.html. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
Virtual Dose. (2020). Virtual Dose ™ CT: User Guide. Our Technology. http://www.virtualphantoms.com/our-products/virtualdose/
WHO. (2016). Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra. Conceitos e princípios da proteção contra a radiação; 2: 43. World Health Organization
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Maria Rita Sutil; Evandro de Souza; Daiane Cristini Barbosa de Souza; Lidia Vasconcellos de Sá; Roberto Vicente
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
