Author(s)

Minxia Hu, Xinming Zhao, Junfeng Song, Chunwu Zhou

Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

As use of the lowest acceptable radiation dose during routine diagnostic imaging is important, we determined the optimal tube current without degradation of low-contrast detectability on abdominal multi-detector row CT (MDCT). CT scanning was performed with a Catphan^® 500 phantom. The optimal tube current was 300 mA on 64-MDCT and 160 mA on 8-MDCT, with a fixed voltage of 120 kV. Reduction of the radiation dose in abdominal CT scanning by lowering the tube current proved to be feasible.

Tube Current; Radiation Dose; Computed Tomography; X-Ray; Abdominal Imaging

M. Hu, X. Zhao, J. Song and C. Zhou, "Reduction of the Radiation Dose by Decreasing the Tube Current without Degradation of Low-Contrast Detectability on Abdominal Multi-Detector Row CT: A Phantom-Based Study," Open Journal of Medical Imaging, Vol. 3 No. 4, 2013, pp. 110-115. doi: 10.4236/ojmi.2013.34018.