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Dose Comparison for Pulmonary Embolism CT Studies: Single Energy Vs. Dual Energy


U Mahmood

U Mahmood*, Y Erdi , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

Presentations

SU-E-I-98 Sunday 3:00PM - 6:00PM Room: Exhibit Hall

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the size specific dose estimate (SSDE), dose length product (DLP) and noise relationship for pulmonary embolism studies evaluated by single source dual energy computed tomography (DECT) against conventional CT (CCT) studies in a busy cancer center and to determine the dose savings provided by DECT.

Methods:

An IRB-approved retrospective study was performed to determine the CTDIvol and DLP from a subset of patients scanned with both DECT and CCT over the past five years. We were able to identify 30 breast cancer patients (6 male, 24 female, age range 24 to 81) who had both DECT and CCT studies performed. DECT scans were performed with a GE HD 750 scanner (140/80 kVp, 480 mAs and 40 mm) and CCT scans were performed with a GE Lightspeed 16 slice scanner (120 kVp, 352 mAs, 20 mm). Image noise was measured by placing an ROI and recording the standard deviation of the mean HU along the descending aorta.

Results:

The average DECT patient size specific dose estimate was to be 14.2 ± 1.7 mGy as compared to 22.4 ± 2.7 mGy from CCT PE studies, which is a 37% reduction in the SSDE. The average DECT DLP was 721.8 ± 84.6 mGy-cm as compared to 981.8 ± 106.1 mGy-cm for CCT, which is a 26% decrease. Compared to CCT the image noise was found to decrease by 19% when using DECT for PE studies.

Conclusion:

DECT SSDE and DLP measurements indicate dose savings and image noise reduction when compared to CCT. In an environment that heavily debates CT patient doses, this study confirms the effectiveness of DECT in PE imaging.


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