Radiation dose reduction at a price: the effectiveness of a male gonadal shield during helical CT scans
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND It is estimated that 60 million computed tomography (CT) scans were performed during 2006, with approximately 11% of those performed on children age 0-15 years. Various types of gonadal shielding have been evaluated for reducing exposure to the gonads. The purpose of this study was to quantify the radiation dose reduction to the gonads and its effect on image quality when a wrap-around male pediatric gonad shield was used during CT scanning. This information is obtained to assist the attending radiologist in the decision to utilize such male gonadal shields in pediatric imaging practice. METHODS The dose reduction to the gonads was measured for both direct radiation and for indirect scattered radiation from the abdomen. A 6 cm3 ion chamber (Model 10X5-6, Radcal Corporation, Monrovia, CA) was placed on a Humanoid real bone pelvic phantom at a position of the male gonads. When exposure measurements with shielding were made, a 1 mm lead wrap-around gonadal shield was placed around the ion chamber sensitive volume. RESULTS The use of the shields reduced scatter dose to the gonads by a factor of about 2 with no appreciable loss of image quality. The shields reduced the direct beam dose by a factor of about 35 at the expense of extremely poor CT image quality due to severe streak artifacts. CONCLUSION Images in the direct exposure case are not useful due to these severe artifacts and the difficulties in positioning these shields on patients in the scatter exposure case may not be warranted by the small absolute reduction in scatter dose unless it is expected that the patient will be subjected to numerous future CT scans.
منابع مشابه
Radiation Dose Reduction at a Price: the Effectiveness of a Pediatric Male Gonadal Shield During Helical CT Scans
متن کامل
Thyroid dose and dose reduction method from CT scan of head and neck
Introduction: Computed tomography (CT) consists of 11% of all imaging methods, but accounts for approximately 67% of radiation exposure due to diagnostic cases. More than one-third of all CT scans are done in the head and neck area. The thyroid gland is irradiated during CT head and neck. According to studies, this gland has the highest levels of radiation-induced cancer, and i...
متن کاملDose reduction during CT scanning in an anthropomorphic phantom by the use of a male gonad shield.
Shielding the radiosensitive gonads during X-ray exposure has been advocated for plain film radiography for many years. In the UK, gonad shields are not widely employed in routine CT scanning, possibly owing to a perceived difficulty in protecting the gonads from a multidirectional X-ray source. The increasing numbers of CT scanners in the UK, with the large doses they deliver to patients, make...
متن کاملDesigning CT scanning rooms and estimating patient and personnel absorbed dose using code (MCNPX 2.6)
One of the most widely used diagnostic devices in medical imaging is computed tomography scanning with the use of X-ray ionization. After years of using this tool in the diagnosis and treatment, external doses of these beams can pose a risk of secondary cancer, which is significant in terms of radiation safety and protection. In this paper, using the Monte Carlo code MCNPX2.6 performed over thr...
متن کاملAssessing the image quality and eye lens dose reduction using bismuth shielding in computed tomography of brain
Background: Epidemiological studies show that computed tomography (CT) is one of the main sources of ionizing radiations. Shielding of radiosensitive organs is one of the dose reduction methods. This study aimed to assess the eye lens dose reduction and image quality resulting from the use of radio-protective bismuth shield in brain CT imaging. Methods: Bismut...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- BMC Medical Imaging
دوره 7 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2007