Estimation of absorbed dose of radiosensitive organs and effective sose in patients underwent abdominopelvic spiral CT scan using impact CT patient dosimetry

Due to the presence of radiosensitive organs in the abdominopelvic region and increasing the number of requests for CT scan examinations, concerns about increasing radiation doses in patients has been greatly elevated. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the absorbed dose of radiosensitive organs and the effective dose in patients underwent abdominopelvic CT scan using ImPACT CT patient dosimetry Calculator (version 1.0.4, Imaging Performance Assessment on Computed Tomography, www.impactscan.org).
This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Imam Reza Hospital from November to February 2015 February 2015 in the Imam Reza Hospital, in Urmia, Iran. The demographic and dosimetric information of 100 patients who underwent abdominopelvic CT scan in a 6-slice CT scanner were obtained through the data collection forms. The demographic data of the patients included age, weight, gender, and BMI. The dosimetric parameters included pitch value, CT dose volume index (CTDIvol), dose-length product (DLP), tube voltage, tube current, exposure time, collimation size, scan length, and scan time. To determine the absorbed dose of radiosensitive organs and also the effective dose in patients, ImPACT CT patient dosimetry calculator was used.
The results of this study demonstrated that the mean and standard deviation (SD) of patient's effective dose in abdominopelvic CT scan was 4.927±0.164 mSv. The bladder in both genders had the greatest mean organ dose, which was 64.71±17.15 mGy for men and 77.56±18.48 mGy for women (P The effective dose values of this examination are in the same range as previous studies, as well as International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations. However, the radiation dose from CT scan has the largest contribution to the medical imaging. According to the ALARA principle, it is recommended that the scan parameters, especially mAs, should be chosen so that the patient dose is minimum, and the image quality is maximum. Furthermore, other imaging modalities are used as an alternative to the CT scan.