Comparison of organ dosimetry methods and effective dose calculation methods for paediatric CT

Computed tomography (CT) is the single biggest ionising radiation risk from anthropogenic exposure. Reducing unnecessary carcinogenic risks from this source requires the determination of organ and tissue absorbed doses to estimate detrimental stochastic effects. In addition, effective dose can be used to assess comparative risk between exposure situations and facilitate dose reduction through optimisation. Children are at the highest risk from radiation induced carcinogenesis and therefore dosimetry for paediatric CT recipients is essential in addressing the ionising radiation health risks of CT scanning. However, there is no well-defined method in the clinical environment for routinely and reliably performing paediatric CT organ dosimetry and there are numerous methods utilised for estimating paediatric CT effective dose. Therefore, in this study, eleven computational methods for organ dosimetry and/or effective dose calculation were investigated and compared with absorbed doses measured using thermoluminescent dosemeters placed in a physical anthropomorphic phantom representing a 10 year old child. Three common clinical paediatric CT protocols including brain, chest and abdomen/pelvis examinations were evaluated. Overall, computed absorbed doses to organs and tissues fully and directly irradiated demonstrated better agreement (within approximately 50 %) with the measured absorbed doses than absorbed doses to distributed organs or to those located on the periphery of the scan volume, which showed up to a 15-fold dose variation. The disparities predominantly arose from differences in the phantoms used. While the ability to estimate CT dose is essential for risk assessment and radiation protection, identifying a simple, practical dosimetry method remains challenging.