Baş-Boyun BT Anjiyografi'de Otomatik Tüp Akımı Modülasyon Sisteminin Hasta Dozu ve Görüntü Kalitesi Üzerine Etkisi

• Published in: Dicle tıp dergisi 2019-12, Vol.46 (4), p.633-640
• Main Authors: Yurt, Ayşegül, Haliloğlu, Rukiye Çakır, Özsoykal, İsmail, Şişman, Gizem, Ada, Emel
• Format: Article
• Language: Turkish
• Subjects: Dosimetry; Medical diagnosis; Medical imaging; Quality
• ISSN: 1300-2945; 1308-9889
• DOI: 10.5798/dicletip.661208

Objective: Use of Computed Tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of diseases is increasing parallel to the technological advances in scanner designs, however, leading to a large increase in patient doses. Although the CT scans offer clinically useful information, the radiation dose and the potential risk of cancer is considered as the biggest problem for the future. For this reason, reducing the patient dose without leading to any degradation in the image quality must be the primary concern in CT scans.Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of the use of automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) technique on patient dose and image quality in head-neck CT angiography scans.Method: 23 patients have been included in the study who are being followed for their cerebrovascular diseases. Following the routine head and neck CT angiography protocol performed using constant tube current (mAs), next scan for the patients were carried out by using automatic tube current modulation technique, with all other exposure parameters held constant. Results obtained from two scanning methods were compared based on both dosimetric parameters and image quality.Results: With the use of automatic tube current modulation technique, 35% reduction was observed in the effective dose. For objective evaluation, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values of 3 different anatomical regions of the head and neck were reduced by 49% in the brain stem, 25% in the shoulder region, and 42% in the cerebellum, respectively. In the subjective evaluation, images have been rated by 2 radiologists according to a grading scale between 0-4 and an average grade of 2.2 was obtained for the images acquired using automatic tube current modulation technique.Conclusion: There was a significant decrease in radiation doses with the use of automatic tube current modulation in head and neck CT angiography. Despite decreases in SNR values, there was no handicap observed for achieving diagnostic purpose. According to these results, the routine use of automatic tube current modulation technique in CT neuroangiography exams is highly recommended.