ASIR technique lowers radiation doses for pediatric CT exams of the brain

A study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that estimated radiation doses are substantially lower for pediatric CT exams of the brain that used an adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique (ASIR) compared to those that did not use ASIR. The researchers found that the brain and salivary gland doses were much lower for ASIR-enabled exams compared to those without ASIR technique. However, no differences in the estimated organ doses were found for the thyroid gland, skeleton, and eye lenses across these two cohorts of CT exams.

"CT radiation dose is an important concern with all imaging sites, especially for children," said Ranish Deedar Ali Khawaja. "We performed this study to do a preliminary analysis of pediatric head CT examinations and to assess the factors influencing radiation doses."

Mean radiation dose was 1.6 - 1.5 mSv (estimated effective dose) in pediatric head CT. In addition to the iterative reconstruction algorithm, patient age and effective body diameter significantly affected the doses.

Dr. Khawaja and his fellow researchers presented the study on May 7 at the 2014 ARRS Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

Founded in 1900, ARRS is the first and oldest radiology society in the United States and is an international forum for progress in radiology. The Society's mission is to improve health through a community committed to advancing knowledge and skills in radiology. ARRS achieves its mission through an annual scientific and educational meeting, publication of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) and InPractice magazine, topical symposia and webinars, and print and online educational materials. ARRS is located in Leesburg, VA.

Source: American Roentgen Ray Society