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J Comput Assist Tomogr . Reduced Chest Computed Tomography Scan Length for Patients Positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019: Dose Reduction and Impac

tetano

Editor, Senior Moderator
J Comput Assist Tomogr


. 2022 Apr 8.
doi: 10.1097/RCT.0000000000001312. Online ahead of print.
Reduced Chest Computed Tomography Scan Length for Patients Positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019: Dose Reduction and Impact on Diagnostic Utility


Sara Principi, Stacy O'Connor[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Luba Frank[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Taly Gilat Schmidt



Affiliations

Abstract

Methods: This study used the Personalized Rapid Estimation of Dose in CT (PREDICT) tool to estimate patient-specific organ doses from CT image data. The PREDICT is a research tool that combines a linear Boltzmann transport equation solver for radiation dose map generation with deep learning algorithms for organ contouring. Computed tomography images from 74 subjects in the Medical Imaging Data Resource Center-RSNA International COVID-19 Open Radiology Database data set (chest CT of adult patients positive for COVID-19), which included expert annotations including "infectious opacities," were analyzed. First, the full z-scan length of the CT image data set was evaluated. Next, the z-scan length was reduced from the left hemidiaphragm to the top of the aortic arch. Generic dose reduction based on dose length product (DLP) and patient-specific organ dose reductions were calculated. The percentage of infectious opacities excluded from the reduced z-scan length was used to quantify the effect on diagnostic utility.
Results: Generic dose reduction, based on DLP, was 69%. The organ dose reduction ranged from approximately equal to 18% (breasts) to approximately equal to 64% (bone surface and bone marrow). On average, 12.4% of the infectious opacities were not included in the reduced z-coverage, per patient, of which 5.1% were above the top of the arch and 7.5% below the left hemidiaphragm.
Conclusions: Limiting z-scan length of chest CTs reduced radiation dose without significantly compromising diagnostic utility in COVID-19 patients. The PREDICT demonstrated that patient-specific organ dose reductions varied from generic dose reduction based on DLP.
 
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